Alison Bartlett

[wolfnowl]

Hi Folks:

Found this in the latest issue of 'Coffee News':

"It's hard to believe that a person who is blind could take quality nature photographs, but Alison Bartlett, 51, is proving it can be done.  The New Milton, England resident was an amateur photographer in 1992 when she lost her sight.  She decided she would continue her hobby by honing in on the sounds around her.  "I learned to listen for the sounds of birds and animals," she says.  Now her hearing is so acute she can hear squirrels eating nuts.  A friend accompanies her on some photo shoots and gives Bartlett the distances and direction so she can aim, focus, and shoot."

[Geoff Wittig]

Hi Folks:

Found this in the latest issue of 'Coffee News':

"It's hard to believe that a person who is blind could take quality nature photographs, but Alison Bartlett, 51, is proving it can be done.  The New Milton, England resident was an amateur photographer in 1992 when she lost her sight.  She decided she would continue her hobby by honing in on the sounds around her.  "I learned to listen for the sounds of birds and animals," she says.  Now her hearing is so acute she can hear squirrels eating nuts.  A friend accompanies her on some photo shoots and gives Bartlett the distances and direction so she can aim, focus, and shoot."

You might be interested in the work of John Dugdale, a commercial photographer who lost most of his sight to CMV retinitis around 1993. Since then despite his visual handicap he has produced a fascinating body of autobiographical/allegorical photographs. Most of his work consists of cyanotypes (aka 'blueprints') which I really like, though more recently he has been making albumen prints.

[JDClements]

Personally, I think it is ridiculous.

[wolfnowl]

And you're certainly allowed to think so!

[Petrjay]

In the John Waters film "Pecker,"  there appeared a minor character who was described as the "first blind photographer," and who had been given a gallery show in New York. ("I feel portraits; I smell landscapes") The premise was intended to illustrate the absurdity of the New York art scene, but apparently, it wasn't as bizarre as it seemed at the time. Kind of like a deaf person singing the national anthem at a sporting event. Everybody's going to tell you you did great, but how can you really know?

[jjj]

In the John Waters film "Pecker,"  there appeared a minor character who was described as the "first blind photographer," and who had been given a gallery show in New York. ("I feel portraits; I smell landscapes") The premise was intended to illustrate the absurdity of the New York art scene, but apparently, it wasn't as bizarre as it seemed at the time. Kind of like a deaf person singing the national anthem at a sporting event. Everybody's going to tell you you did great, but how can you really know?

Evelyn Glennie is a deaf percussionist, yet is world renowned. She's even appeared on Sesame Street which is a measure of fame somewhat above the average!

[Dale_Cotton2]

Yes: this is a phenomenon that I too find bemusing. Of the dozen or so blind people I know well nearly every one who lost his/her sight in childhood or later owns a camera, although this has nothing to do with art. One fellow carries a pocket camera as a sort of defensive tool. If someone gives him a problem like refusing entrance to a store or restaurant because of his guide dog, he whips out his camera, points it toward the voice, and snaps away. For the others a camera is like a car: there is an overwhelming gravitational pull of hopeless yearning.

We all love our gadgets, but for the blind the world of digital electronics has become a critically important enabler, thanks esp. to screen reading technology that uses voice synthesis to provide access to computers, including cell phones and PDAs.

[JDClements]

Evelyn Glennie is a deaf percussionist, yet is world renowned. She's even appeared on Sesame Street which is a measure of fame somewhat above the average!

Not in the same class as a "blind photographer." The percussionist can probably even feel the beat produced, and for certain can feel the result of creating it (and vision is used, too). Beethoven was deaf at the end, but he could still hear the music in his head, and could write it down.

A "blind photographer" may be able to imagine a scene inside their head, too, but that's where it is going to stay. Photography is a 100% visual medium. Aside from strictly recording what is in front of you (as in the one example given), the idea is absurd.

I thought maybe it was a joke after I made my first response, but apparently not. This is right in line with what John Waters was getting at in the movie mentioned.

[Petrjay]

Evelyn Glennie is a deaf percussionist, yet is world renowned. She's even appeared on Sesame Street which is a measure of fame somewhat above the average!

It's certainly possible for percussionists to operate without hearing, as Ms. Glennie has demonstrated. Rhythm and volume are the percussionist's stock in trade, and these can be mastered with practice by using sight and touch. Singers need to be able to recognize and control pitch and timbre, which is difficult enough for a person who's blessed with the ability to hear sounds.    

[jjj]

I thought maybe it was a joke after I made my first response, but apparently not.

Actually the Daily Mail is a joke and not a even a real newpaper and I would regard anything in it, with great scepticism.
If you want to get a sense of how people with more than 2 brain cells regard it.
Daily Mail according to B3ta