SF0 / JuliaWarhola / Seeing Beyond Sight Photo Challenge

30 points

Seeing Beyond Sight Photo Challenge by Julia Green

March 13th, 2007 11:12 PM

INSTRUCTIONS: Seeing Beyond Sight has partnered with SFZero to challenge you to see the world differently - with more than your eyes.

Welcome new users: SFZero is an ongoing game in which you can choose to participate (or not) after you do the Seeing Beyond Sight Challenge.

Click here for new user registration.

1. Blindfold yourself.
(wear shades or tape your eyes shut)

2. Go out in public and make your way in the world.
(go 1 block, 1 hour or 1 roll of film; go with a friend or alone; make up your own process)

3. Photograph things you notice. And, just notice.
(What do you notice differently about objects, people, actions, interactions?)

4. Embrace the whole experience as much as the picture taking.
(Engage. Have a conversation with people you encounter. Take it all in.)

5. Share your story.
(For each photograph write a caption about your experience - a few lines or several paragraphs if you want.)

6. Challenge some friends to do it.
(email them the link: sf0.org/seeingbeyondsight)

Please don't post all the pictures from your shoot, but chose 1 to 3 that are the best images or are most telling of your experience. Caption the photos describing something about your experience - that is as important as the image itself. Longer stories are welcomed and may be added to www.seeingbeyondsight.org.

If you depend on your eyes to get around, then it is hard not to use them. Although you can tell us about how difficult it is to be blind, focus more on what you noticed about the world as you embarked on this journey.

This experience isn’t about blindness – it is about seeing, noticing and paying attention with more than your eyes.

This challenge was inspired by SEEING BEYOND SIGHT: PHOTOGRAPHY BY BLIND TEENAGERS, a new book published by Chronicle Books.

This task is a collabaration with ThaJinx. We decided to work together as a way of keeping eachother safe. I didn't feel like going out by myself blindfolded or finding out ThaJinx had been run over by a car.

We decided to have ThaJinx go first. All was going well and good until near the end of the task when we realized ThaJinx's camera wasn't working and the past half hour of documented work was only documented with black squares of nothing.

I decided to journey into Freak Alley. Freak Alley is an alley in Boise between 7th and 8th and runs between Koi and Opa. The Alley is filled with graffitti, but over the past few years has gone to shit. Local artists don't like it anymore and often you will find tags or things written in the alley such as "RIP Freak Alley" or "Cut the Bullshit". They alley has some cool stuff and is a common place for artists like myself to hang out in.