[Art_beyond_sight_theory_and_research] Photography, gizmos and apps, artists

[Lisa Yayla]

Hi,
Links to articles mostly about photography and other arts.

Regards,

Lisa

£300,000 target on cards
At the age of 16 Richard Gawthorpe was told he was colour blind - putting to an end any hopes he had of going to art college.
However he never lost his love of art, and over the years has become one of the area's most respected and prolific painters.
http://www.dewsburyreporter.co.uk/news/local/more-local-news/300-000-target-on-cards-1-5824079


Amazing photography by colour blind artist Chris Friel
What happens when a colour blind painter picks up a camera? Actually, some quite amazing things, at least if your name is Chris Friel. The British artist has a remarkable sense for the nuance of gradients and minimalist compositions. It's hard to believe that these photos are actually real.
http://newswithtags.com/Photography/lostateminor-amazing-photography-by-colour-blind-artist-chris-friel

An Art History & Art Making Course for Blind Adults at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Abstract
The manager of the Philadelphia Museum of Art's Accessible Programs gives a history of the institution's services for people with disabilities, with particular attention to services for those who are blind and visually impaired. These include descriptive tours, touch tours, three-dimensional tactile interpretations of two-dimensional works of art, and a long standing art history and art making class for blind and visually impaired students, Form in Art.
http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/3740/3275

Scene Unseen

After writing the story of his movie Ship of Theseus, director Anand Gandhi visited Mahesh Ummrania, a visually impaired musician in Mumbai, to study photography at the city's Beyond Sight Foundation. In the movie, the character Aaliya Kamal, a visually impaired photographer, undergoes a cornea transplant surgery and finds it difficult to adjust to her newfound sense of sight. Seated in Ummrania's hostel room, Gandhi remembers reading out the story to him and feeling a great sense of relief when the former gave his appreciative nod.
Initially, Gandhi toyed with the idea of a blind hockey player as one of the three protagonists of the movie. But when his director of photography, Pankaj Kumar, told him about Evgen Bavcar, a blind photographer from Paris, Gandhi was sold on the idea. "It was a very intriguing story. I knew I was going to take it beyond the novelty of blind photographers and raise questions about the subjectivity and objectivity of the art," says the filmmaker.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/scene-unseen/1136321/

Visually impaired chefs graduate
"I wanted my independence, I don't want to depend on anyone to make breakfast for me."
Vishad Paryag, 18, was beaming with pride when he graduated from a 12-week-long cooking class designed for the blind and visually impaired. Paryag lost his vision when he was eight, and has since fought to be self-sufficient.

http://www.guardian.co.tt/lifestyle/2013-06-26/visually-impaired-chefs-graduate

3D Printer Photo Tech Helps the Visually Impaired See

Technology has a major role to play in modern society, as it holds the power to change human life. Prevoteau Mathieu's Pentax prototype is such a technology that can be beneficial to people who are visually impaired.
The new technology uses a 3D printer, so that it can make a miniature model of things you photograph. If you take pictures of a flower, just hook up the camera to the printer, and it would produce a 3D printed version of the flower you captured.
Although this technology has many fun applications, it actually aims at those people with visual impairments.

http://www.devicemag.com/2013/06/21/3d-printer-photo-tech-helps-the-visually-impaired-see/

http://www.yankodesign.com/2013/06/17/3d-pentax/
http://www.dvice.com/2013-6-19/visually-impaired-can-see-photos-3d-printer-hookup
http://www.ubergizmo.com/2013/06/visually-impaired-gain-sight-from-3d-printed-photos/

Israeli smartphone for the blind to hit US
A smartphone for the visually impaired designed by Israeli company Project RAY will be marketed and sold in the United States through Odin Mobile.
The company, which received support from chipmaker Qualcomm, developed a unique technology that allows users to use intuitive touch and voice navigation to access a slew of features, including phone, email, calendar and GPS. It is also able to identify bank notes, pictures and colors with the camera.
http://www.jpost.com/Business/Business-News/Israeli-smartphone-for-the-blind-to-hit-US-316492


Camera-based system designed by Israeli start-up gives visually-impaired ability to 'read'
http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/technology/camera-based-system-designed-by-israeli-start-up-gives-visually-impaired-ability-to-read-1.1417768

3D Printed Photos can be Seen by the Visually Impaired
Amanda Ghassaei of Instructables has used an Objet Connex500 3D printer to add a sense of texture to photographs. The images are still meant to be viewed in 2D, but the printer uses different thicknesses to create a silhouette effect.
http://www.psfk.com/2013/05/3d-printed-textured-photos.html

Camera Tells Visually Impaired Where to Focus
Dustin Adams, a PhD student from the University of California in Sta. Cruz, and his teammates have developed a camera app specifically for the visually impaired. The app provides audio instructions to a visually impaired person to help him/her focus the camera and take a good picture.
Adams and his team-who all work at the Interactive Systems for Individuals with Special Needs (ISIS) Lab-ran a survey among 54 respondents between the ages of 18 and 78 and asked about the difficulties they encounter when taking photos with a camera. The respondents had varying degrees of visual impairment-some were completely blind, some were partially blind, and some had a degree of light perception.
http://www.psfk.com/2013/05/camera-for-the-blind.html

Researchers develop an app to help the blind take better photos
http://www.techhive.com/article/2038634/researchers-develop-an-app-to-help-the-blind-take-better-photos.html

A Qualitative Study to Support a Blind Photography
Mobile Application
ABSTRACT
Both sighted and visually impaired people value having a
photographic memento of a place or an event. However, due to
the visually oriented nature of photography and the lack of nonvisual
cues to indicate the content of the photo, the common belief
is that it is difficult for people with limited vision to take, organize
and share pictures. However, we did not find a structured study on
the photographic practice of those with limited vision. We ran a
survey among 54 totally blind, light perception, and legally blind
participants to investigate their photo taking, browsing, and online
sharing. Based on this survey, we developed a mobile app to help
blind persons take and recognize picture content using non-visual
cues. The application was tested with five legally and totally blind
persons with mostly positive results.
http://users.soe.ucsc.edu/~dustinadams/petra-camera-ready.pdf

Researchers Create Smartphone App That Helps Blind Photographers Line Up Shots
http://petapixel.com/2013/05/10/researchers-create-smartphone-app-that-helps-blind-photographers-line-up-shots/

Interview with Visually Impaired Fine Art Photographer Craig Royal
Craig Royal: I'm a visually impaired fine art photographer. I'm legally blind due to a congenital form of optic nerve atrophy. I have been legally blind since birth. My vision had been 20/200 corrected up until 1992, when a white blind spot began to develop in the center of my visual field in both eyes.

... My visual reality and other health factors were resulting in a real frustration in producing 3D art. In 2007 I bought a DSLR and loved the immediacy, loved auto focus lenses, loved photo editing software. Along with a 4x monocular, which I use to edit photos, this all made up a workable platform for me and I was excited about the new creative possibilities

http://petapixel.com/2013/04/15/interview-with-visually-impaired-fine-art-photographer-craig-royal/

Meet Award-Winning Visually Impaired Photographer Craig Royal
In 2011, Craig won the "Best of Show Award" in the 11th Annual Members' Show, Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, with Reflection Abstract 80. Craig and his work have been featured in Slate, the Westchase Patch, the CNN Photo blog, the Like Minds blog, and Exhibitions Without Walls.
http://www.visionaware.org/blog.aspx?BlogID=9&BlogEntryID=681

Craig Royal website

http://craigroyal.zenfolio.com/

Sight, memory and feeling explored at Prairie Gallery

Photographs that delve into the complexities of sight, memory and feeling will be on view at Prairie Gallery beginning Saturday, as Prairie hosts a selection of new photographs by the Seeing with Photography Collective, a group of blind, visually impaired and sighted artists from New York City.
The artists produce photographs based on a combined awareness and experience of sight loss that are created through an elaborate staging and lighting process conducted as collaborations between blind and sighted artists

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130412/ENT07/304120019/Sight-memory-feeling-explored-Prairie-Gallery?nclick_check=1

Arts and Crafts After Vision Loss
http://www.visionaware.org/section.aspx?FolderID=8&SectionID=119&TopicID=488



Graffiti artist creates Braille graffiti for the blind!

This picture shows Braille graffiti written on a wall of a church in France.

A sighted French man who calls himself "The Blind" who has been creating graffiti for the blind in France, Europe and "a few in the United States."

The graffiti is made with balls of plaster glued to walls.
https://plus.google.com/+MikeElgan/posts/AjzhbxkSh6F#+MikeElgan/posts/AjzhbxkSh6F

The Blind
http://theblindtavu.wordpress.com/graffiti-pour-aveugle/

Legally Blind Artist Stephen Lapthisophon Challenges Students and Viewers to Open Their Eyes Wide

Excerpt
"The things I can't see now aren't the things I was never interested in," says the Oak Cliff artist, who lost his sight to nerve damage in 1994. It's those fine details, things that require narrow focus, that Lapthisophon, who's 57, has never had time for. The technical details of a piece never appealed to him as much as the big ideas. Not being able to see the minutiae only made him more strident in those beliefs.
Formerly the artist in residence at the University of Texas at Dallas, Lapthisophon has been at UT Arlington for the last few years, teaching both art history and studio classes. He's one of those rare art professors who don't feel that teaching disrupts his own time in the studio. He's even taught kindergarten in Chicago and works with high schoolers in the summer. "I'm enlivened by interaction with students and rewarded by their successes," he says.

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/mixmaster/2013/06/stephen_lapthisophon_people_is.php

Internationally known blind artist to speak at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine
While art was always a major part of Bramblitt's life, it was not until he lost his sight in 2001 that he began to paint. "Art reshaped my life," he said.
Bramblitt's paintings take their inspiration mostly from real-life events. His workshops are unique in the art world not only because they span the gap between beginning and professional artists, but also because they include adaptive techniques for artists with disabilities.
Bramblitt's work has received much recognition, including the "Most Inspirational Video of 2008" from YouTube and three Presidential Service Awards for his innovative workshops. His art has been sold in more than 20 countries, and he has appeared internationally in print, radio, and television

While art was always a major part of Bramblitt's life, it was not until he lost his sight in 2001 that he began to paint. "Art reshaped my life," he said.
Bramblitt's paintings take their inspiration mostly from real-life events. His workshops are unique in the art world not only because they span the gap between beginning and professional artists, but also because they include adaptive techniques for artists with disabilities.
Bramblitt's work has received much recognition, including the "Most Inspirational Video of 2008" from YouTube and three Presidential Service Awards for his innovative workshops. His art has been sold in more than 20 countries, and he has appeared internationally in print, radio, and television
While art was always a major part of Bramblitt's life, it was not until he lost his sight in 2001 that he began to paint. "Art reshaped my life," he said.
Bramblitt's paintings take their inspiration mostly from real-life events. His workshops are unique in the art world not only because they span the gap between beginning and professional artists, but also because they include adaptive techniques for artists with disabilities.
Bramblitt's work has received much recognition, including the "Most Inspirational Video of 2008" from YouTube and three Presidential Service Awards for his innovative workshops. His art has been sold in more than 20 countries, and he has appeared internationally in print, radio, and television
http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2013/06/062513-vtc-johnblamblitt.html

Glass artist exhibit at Artist Exposure Gallery
The Color of Nature," a new solo exhibit by glass artist Joe Davis, of Kingston, opens with an artist's reception from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, June 21, at the Artist Exposure Gallery, located at 26 Howland St. in Plymouth.
The artist himself is color-blind. The show explores the "art of looking" at nature, a lost art that Davis argues is the reason why we have lost our connection with nature itself, because no one takes the time to look anymore. Many great artists have long been considered to have been color blind, including Van Gogh and Picasso.

http://www.wickedlocal.com/plymouth/newsnow/x1002426799/Glass-artist-exhibit-at-Artist-Exposure-Gallery#axzz2Y9pYThBl

Blind artist to "paint music" for Vision Awareness Days (w/ video)

John Bramblitt is a nationally known artist/painter who lost his vision as a young man but developed a unique painting technique and now creates amazing paintings. He will be in Roanoke June 25-29th as part of Vision Awareness Days.
http://blogs.roanoke.com/arts/2013/06/blind-artist-to-paint-music-for-vision-awareness-days-w-video/


Legally-blind Cartoonist Leads Creative Kiwi Army

WHAKAPAPA: an art exhibition proving to Australians there is more to New Zealand than the All Blacks, Tolkien tourism and Flight of the Conchords.
BRENT HARPUR is a legally-blind, New Zealand born cartoonist, art teacher and entertainer. To celebrate his second year living and working in Melbourne, Brent is curatingWhakapapa, an exhibition bringing together the culturally-diverse works of sixteen NZ artists. This will be the first time many of these artists have exhibited and performed their work in Australia.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU1306/S00231/legally-blind-cartoonist-leads-creative-kiwi-army.htm

Hero nomination a 'boost' for Dundee artist
Derek O'Rourke took up painting just three years ago but has already wowed art lovers across the country.
But the Dundonian's artistic talent is even more astonishing, as Mr O'Rourke is registered blind.
Derek, who spent 10 years in the Royal Navy, has helped raise thousands of pounds for charities by selling or auctioning off his unique artwork.
http://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/news/local/hero-nomination-a-boost-for-dundee-artist-1.102611



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