SF0 / PopsBlair / Seeing Beyond Sight Photo Challenge

30 + 30 points

Seeing Beyond Sight Photo Challenge by PopsBlair

February 17th, 2007 6:06 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.

I spent a total of about two hours blindfolded, first walking on a path, then in Bette's Ocean View Diner in Berkeley, and finally sitting on a bench on Fourth Street because I was tired of walking. The outdoor experiences were relaxing and enjoyable, feeling the breeze and sun on my face, and hearing the passing conversations. The indoor experience was slightly claustrophobic and stifling for some reason, and left me vaguely depressed. I mostly photographed in the direction of interesting sounds...dogs, children, wheeled devices, etc. The snippets of conversation were intriguing and I felt basically impervious to stares or attention to my appearance (wearing a blindfold). One person approached me and asked what I was doing, and the waiter at the restaurant asked if I was practicing being blind, since he lived near a blind school and often saw people with blindfolds on. Overall, I would say I was especially atuned to sounds and smells, and even though I knew the path upon which we walked, I quickly became disoriented to space. I didn't even notice, for instance, that I was walking uphill until I was told. I ate my meal with a fair amount of discretion, and poured my own drink using my finger as a measuring device. I would say the experience was utterly new and took me out of my predictable patterns, and I really like my photographs as well.

- smaller

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