A SHOT IN THE DARK: Photography and Visual Impairment

(Part 1)

'Uncertain ground is lying in wait. I might
Be tripped by any forward step. For I'm
That prisoner shuffling through the dream of time ...'

[from Stephen Edgar's translation of Jorge Luis Borges' sonnet The Blind Man]

 

In the late 1980s I was diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition. I am now legally blind and the limited sight I still possess is very precious to me. I have always enjoyed photography and my camera has now become a convenient, surrogate set of eyes. I get to appreciate what my camera has seen, with a little help from me, when I later download my photographs and view them on my large computer screen.

Faces are revealed and topographic details come to life. Like a drone, I can glide over my pictures, enlarging them as I discover things that I was unaware of when the image was taken . I am often rewarded with many wonderful surprises. Unless otherwise stated, all the photographs were taken with my Panasonic DMC-FZ35 digital camera, have not been edited, are owned by me and can only be used with my permission.

Jim Low
June 2014