Shooting blind
 |
|
Cai Cong, who's blind, instructs a girl on how to shoot photos at a photography workshop in Guangzhou. Photo provided to China Daily |
 |
 |
Based on such clues as sound, touch and even warmth, the blind anchor the camera to their fore-heads, necks or chests in relation to the distance and space, to capture an image.
The photographs are printed in relief, so blind people can feel the shape and space of their works.
In order to make cameras easy to use for people who are sight impaired, Caisticks different touchable signs on the function buttons, so they can find them easily.
But the most important part of the training is to free the mind. Cai encourages his students to be daring in using their other senses to feel the world and capture their feeling on camera.
A photograph taken by one of Cai's blind students impressed him deeply. "When the boy went through a side street in summer, he felt the warm air from an air conditioner and took a picture of the exhaust fan. He named the picture Heat," Cai says.
"Although the boy can't see what a hot summer looks like, he can feel it and express it to others with photos. That's a typical example of what non-visual photography is.
"Everyone has his unique talents and ways of overcoming barriers."
Together with Handicap International, One Plus One organized an exhibition in Beijing on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities in 2012. The exhibition displayed the photos taken by Cai's students in Lhasa.
One Plus One aims to develop a society in which all people with disabilities can develop their full potential, and it has produced some significant achievements.
It started with radio broadcasting in 2006, and then spread to other information services for the disabled, such as websites, phone hotlines and a digital library. It launched a magazine called YouRen this year.
"Non-visual photography is only one method that helps blind people enrich their lives, bolster confidence and integrate into the community," Cai says. "We want people to know that being blind doesn't mean we cannot see the world - we just see it in a different way."
Guo Xin and Xing Yi contributed to this story.
