Beyond the Frame 13/

Why my favourite photography book is not what you might expect and lessons learned from blind photographers.

My bookshelves are groaning beneath the weight of photography books. A pile has also grown on my desk, a teetering column of visual inspiration.

Some books I refer to regularly, some I’m gradually working my way through, and a couple of recent additions were plonked on top last week (including two ‘zines’, one with photos of the 1969 & 1970 Isle of Wight Music Festivals and a second with photos from the Northern Soul music scene, 1993–1996).

My strict “Only One Book On My Desk At A Time” policy appears to have failed.

Oh well.

Some of these weighty tomes might be familiar to fellow photographers. They’re all highly recommended. William Albert Allard’s retrospective, Five Decades is a firm favourite and if you only have one photography book, it would be a worthy choice. (I’ve just seen that it’s only $16.98 on Amazon, which is crazy — but there are only four copies in stock so…)

There is, however, one small and unassuming photography book that is open on my desk more often than not. I’d be willing to bet you’ve not seen it before and, regrettably, it’s hard to find. It is the photography book that continues to inspire me more than any other.

Seeing Beyond Sight — Photographs by Blind Teenagers.

I’m pretty sure this is the only book I own with Braille on the cover

“Photographs by blind teenagers? How does that work?”

At a school for the blind in North Carolina, Tony Deifell took what he describes as a “leap of faith” and proposed offering a photography class to the blind and partially-sighted students.

Three students turned up for the first class.

John only wanted to take photos of his girlfriend. Dean decided that he didn’t really like taking photographs and dropped out. Jackie asked, “What are you thinking, teaching photography to blind people?”

An inauspicious start, perhaps.

However, once news spread that Jackie and John had cameras, other students joined. Leuwynda had a specific goal in mind. She wanted to photograph cracks in the pavement.

She sent the photos to the school Superintendent with a note, “You may not notice these cracks but they are a big problem since my white cane gets stuck.”

The cracks were fixed.

Let nobody tell you that photography can’t change the world.

Chasing Fears

Merlett, who is completely blind, found the sound of lawnmowers and leaf blowers around campus to be scary. However, with a camera in hand, she “decided to turn the tables and chase the machines — to take a picture.”

I can empathise with Merlett. I’ve often found that having a camera in my hand has provided the motivation to face situations that might otherwise have remained overwhelming.

Here are a few hastily scanned pages from Seeing Without Sight. If you are able to track down a copy, you’ll find plenty more inspiration inside.

“We went to Boston two weeks ago. This is the steep staircase we had to go up to get to our rooms. I took a picture of it because I will always remember almost falling down the steps the first night. I’m not used to staircases that do that — that go around in a circle. I was like ‘wooo’.” — Melody

“I was thinking that it would be sort of hard for a blind person to take pictures, but it’s not very hard. You’ve just got to listen.” — Ricky

“This was supposed to be my bed. It became a picture of my dresser.” — Leuwynda

I think all photographers can relate to Leuwynda’s experience.

“I am Antonio. I am showing my muscles.”
“This is my cousin Lerrod trying to be like me.”
“Chris always tries to follow the big boys.”
— Antonio

“How do you not cut people’s heads off in a photo?”
“Just ask the person where they are.”
— Frances

In photography, as in life, sometimes the most obvious answer is the correct one.

“One day there was one storm lined up after another. I went on the porch and it was dark. After the storm the sun was shining through the raindrops. A rainbow came out and I took a picture of it.” — Josh

Josh there, neatly summarising my life in fewer words than I ever could.

There were storms. It was dark. Then the sun came out. Now I take pictures of rainbows.

There’s another quote in Seeing Beyond Sight that I often return to:

“Photography, it would seem, is all about looks. But the best photographs are great because of what does not appear — leading our imaginations to recruit us as participants. At first, I offered students guidelines in an attempt to make their pictures ‘look good’. Hold the camera level, Don’t cut off anyone’s head. Make sure the sun is behind you. If you’re too close, the picture will blur. Despite my best intentions, the students took the most compelling images when they ignored the conventional rules of picture taking and just took the photos they wanted.”

Tony Dreifell’s introduction to the book is a well of uncomplicated wisdom. I could happily quote a dozen more paragraphs.

“I settled on the idea of a [photo of] a bumblebee. I waited for just the right moment, but as I pressed the button, the bee was gone. I was devastated. After the pictures were developed, my parents pointed out the beautiful flower I had captured. I still depend on luck when taking photographs. In fact, serendipity is a crucial ingredient, as is an openness to others’ insight.”

“Antonio photographed four one-dollar bills on his grandmother’s bed and captioned it: ‘I wanted a picture of all my money. I thought it was more than four dollars.’ “

You and me both, Antonio. You and me both.

I love the simplicity of what came out of the blind teenagers’ photography classes. There’s no discussion about camera gear, no debate about shutter speeds and apertures, no fancy lighting… Complexity is entirely absent. It’s simply people sharing their “view” of the world as they experience it.

The many and varied benefits of photography are not always what we might expect. Tameka understands this.

“Tameka snuck pictures of naked people and blamed it on the fact that she couldn’t see.”

I’ve found copies of Seeing Beyond Sight available at these locations:

• Bookshare

• Amazon

You can learn more about the project on the Seeing Beyond Sight website.

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A quick editorial request:

I’m blushing at the many encouraging responses I’ve received to the first dozen editions of this evolving newsletter. You are one of more than 14,000 subscribers.

Go me!

If you know any photographers or people who enjoy photography or people who like to read or people with vowels in their names (it matters not) I’d be embarrassingly grateful if you would take a moment to click a button and share it with between one and fifty of your most beloved friends (OK, one will suffice).

Really, thank you.

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Further Reading

Blind photographers are not as rare as you might imagine.

Here’s blind pianist Henry Butler describing how he got started in photography.

And a short trailer for the documentary, Dark Light: The Art of Blind Photographers, which Henry Butler also appears in.

Finally, here’s a link to a short but fascinating interview with Ian Treherne. Ian is profoundly deaf and has lost 95% of his vision but makes beautiful celebrity portraits.

Actor Marc Warren, the star of Hustle and Mad Dogs, as photographed by Ian Treherne

Treherne’s window of vision is demonstrated in this representation of his eyesight

If you know any more examples of blind photographers (I’m sure there are many), please let me know.

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