Exhibition of and by the visually challenged

Challenging the existing notion of photography being an art form that can only be practiced by those who can see, an exhibition organised on the eve of 'International Day of Persons with Disabilities' at the British Council here attempted to establish that blind people can in fact indulge in the "sight intensive exercise," and perform as good as anyone else.
Organised by the NGO 'Sightsavers' in association with Beyond Sight Foundation, the exhibition held as part of "The Blind View Campaign" showcased about 30 photographs clicked by visually impaired photographers of other blind individuals engaged in several activities.
The festival breaks the myth that photography is the territory of the sighted people.

"I personally call this literally an eye opening event for all of us. Six months back when we were talking about this campaign, we said what is that we want to challenge.
Photography is probably a very natural extension of sight and this is what we wanted to challenge," R N Mohanty, CEO, Sightsavers, said.
The Blindview Campaign which had started in Mumbai about six months back, brought together several visually challenged individuals at a photography workshop where they were trained to use the camera and click pictures.

The learning process is a two-way street and in this case, Mohanty feels, while the blind were learning how to photograph, their teachers got familiar with that component of the art form where one could click pictures by using their audible, tactile and olfactory senses.

The shortlisted photographs were then displayed at a
public place in Mumbai, and were then carried to Bangalore, where the second leg of the campaign happened, before bringing it to the capital.
For Partha Bhowmick, the founder of the Beyond Sight Foundation, such initiatives help bridge the gap between society and the differently abled, as they tell stories about different people, adventures et al.
"Every time I work with them there is a new challenge and a new learning. I always believe that there is a sight in the core of darkness and my effort to bring that sight onto the surface of photography.

"The blind person is visual thinker. They live in a visual world and they cannot escape into the reality of the visual world around them. So they understand it through touch, sound, warmth of light, memories if they are not born blind and their intuitive senses. When sight is lost these senses are so much amplified that they create an image in their mind and I help them to convert these images into photographs," Bhowmik said.
One of them major objectives of the exhibition was to offer a glimpse of the lives that are lead by the visually challenged people and create a narrative.

"The photographs sometimes seem as if they are just clicked but if you know the story behind them, the person behind them, it makes them more interesting story telling work rather than a mere surface of a photograph that has some visuals on it. I always believe that diminished sense does not mean diminished life," Bhowmick said.
The show captures stories from the day to day lives- the challenges as well opportunities that blind people are faced on a regular basis, while asserting that being blind is just another part of their lives and it has not impaired their abilities to perform and function well as any other human being in their respective sphere of life.

The campaign also has a digital version where all the photographs that have been exhibited are also on display through an online virtual gallery, besides a series of 1-minute-long videos in which people living without sight talk about their day to day experiences.