The Blind View: New Visions, Hidden Perspectives with Help of Her Highness Sheikha Arwa Al Qassimi

A Photography Project by Blind People

Our modern, mobile, internet connected devices—laptops, cell phones, tablets, etc.—have come to play an increasingly important, now even dominant, role in modern life. The degree to which modern human eyes are glued to screens is unprecedented,with millions developing unacknowledged addictions to these devices. In a modern culture that so heavily operates on sight, where so much human interaction is now across vast distances through internet-connected devices, it can be hard for many to imagine a life without sight.But there are other ways to experience life, and our modern perspective needs more help than ever appreciating these other viewpoints.

The Blind View, an exhibition by Sightsavers, is just the help we needed.

“Though I’ve lost my sight, I haven’t lost my vision.”

Those living with impaired vision rely more heavily on other senses to experience life. What if those with eyesight could “see’ what the blind ‘see?”

The art of photography is an entire art dedicated to seeing. Those able to use their eyes fully generally see photography as a way to freeze moments in time, available on demand and to be shared freely. Most people are not aware that there are other ways to experience the world; what if they could sense, feel, touch, smell, and hear the world the way blind people do, experiencing moments with those heightened senses?What if they could find an exhibit that showcases a new type of photography with which they are completely unfamiliar, one that is a product of and about people who are blind?

The Blind View exists to answer this very question. Its primary purpose is to pull in and surprise people with a photography exhibition that both carries a deep emotional impact and one that gets people to think about what life is like for the blind and how people can better accommodate their blind brothers and sisters. People with visual impairments may lack the quality of eyesight possessed by the vast majority of people, but their other senses are usually enhanced relative to the rest of humanity.The photos exhibited by The Blind Viewhelps to tell the wider public about all of this, helping to challenge the dominant societal view that being blind is simply a disability

Sightsavers, in partnership with Beyond Sight Foundation – a project designed to help blind people – is going to be holding two workshops in India: one in Mumbai in June and one in Bangalore in September. The photography created as part of these sessions will soon be on display in exhibits in each city and also online. The whole process will peakwith a final gala event in Delhi. Backed with mixed media promotional campaigns and public participation that involves both voting on the photographs experiencing life from a visually impaired perspective, The Blind View will bring much public attention to the issues confronting blind people as well as the work and mission of Sightsavers.

Our campaign website www.theblindview.in contains more details, be sure to visit it.