[stylist] Blindness and photography

[Robert Leslie Newman]

Elizabeth 

This discussion, if anything has allowed me/us to get to know you better;
your take on blindness, your perception on societal reactions/acceptance to
us, and more. And, I know that on these very complex facets of your --- or
for any of us who have been revealing our personal philosophies, we have
been privileged to share only the proverbial "tip of the iceberg."  

And so after reading your latest message, what I'm feeling/thinking this
morning is that we are talking along the same lines of thought and, at least
I am feeling we are --- let's see --- that more than anything, we are
sharing what could be seen as a "personal choice thing." that bottom-line,
we are in agreement that  a blind guy can do most things (those things that
we have an interest in and some talent for) which can include photography.
Secondly, that yes, we jointly agree that with the very nature of
"photography" being a visual art/thing, that there are issues a blind guy
would need to address to make it work. 

And so, I appreciate that you've been upfront with sharing your take and
choice. 
(Anyone else? How do you see this?)

Robert Leslie Newman
President NFB Writers' division 
Writers' Division Website-
http://www.nfb-writers-division.org
Personal Website- 
http://www.thoughtprovoker.info

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Elizabeth Sammons
Sent: Sunday, August 08, 2010 8:17 PM
To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [stylist] Blindness and photography

Colleagues,

Well, I am glad that the subject of blindness and photography, or as I might
call it blindness versus photography, is getting a lot of reaction. Folks
here do not know me, but perhaps you will trust me that in general, I am
very far from being a ney sayer both in my personal life and in my career.
As I dig into my own thoughts, here's what is eating at me when I consider
the subject of blind camera people and photographs. Photography, I think you
will agree with me, is by its very essence a matter of vision and view.
Blindness by its essence is the matter of having lost or never having had
that very vision or view. This is why it still seems to me a mockery to try
to combine the two, water and oil. And even if the effort is made, I don't
get the point or the happiness of doing something along this line. 

I am appreciative of some of the reasoning raised such as wanting to leave a
visual record to one's children, wanting to see if one can simply capture a
subject in the frame, etc.. But even in the best scenario, say, the subject
is captured successfully, I am reminded of a news subject that I saw while
living in Russia about a young man who was blind and who fried his own
potatoes for dinner. So what? So does everybody else. So what's the
newsworthiness in that? Similarly I would say that there is nothing
praiseworthy in someone who is blind taking a picture beyond perhaps some
desire to try a new thing, since it is a thing that anybody else can do.
Note, I am not talking here about the artistry of the photo... that is a
completely different matter which I addressed earlier.

Anyhow, here's to the diversity of opinion such groups support, and thanks
for making me think on this issue a bit more deeply than prior to this
discussion.


Sincerely,
Elizabeth

    


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