Seven Blind Photographers

Multiple emotions indeed

Lately there had been many exhibitions in town, featuring works of local photographers. The subject ranges from urban living, to more specific subjects. A couple of weekends ago, I got word that a unique exhibit was taking place in town. And it featured works by seven blind photographers, organised by an initiative called Sensory Photography. I got curious and checked out the show at Ruang, Jalan Kasturi.

It was not just the photos which were shown, the whole creative process was highlighted and we gained insight into how the works were produced, how the photographers came out with the photos, which with good vision may not be able to appreciate or capture.

The details of the photographers

One of the photographers were there with his family

My favourite capture of the day - “Selamat Datang”

The seven photographers suffer from various level of visual impairment. Some of the rely on other senses to help them pull the trigger. They use heat to detect lights and sunlight or the noise in the surroundings to understand what was going on. The used just basic cameras and some of them just your common smartphones.

I found the works inspiring. They thought us to see and appreciate what was around us. My favourite work was captured by a completely blind lady, Puan Jamaliah Mohd Yasin. She was in her 60s and had retired, only taking up photography in the last 3 years. She was not born blind, but had her vision deteriorating in the last 10 years. The photo she exhibited was a simple one but fully captured her feeling every morning - a piece called “Selamat Datang” or Welcome. It basically was a shot of pavement in bright sunlight with a blind individual finding his way with a walking stick.

More to explore …

Exploring some of the creative process …

Using your sensors to explore the works

According to the organiser, this exhibition would be one of many. I can’t wait to see how their work would develop in the future .... The current show will still be running until the end of September 2018. There were also area of the exhibit exploring how using sensory would make us appreciate the surroundings more. Kinda hard to describe but do come and have a look.