Blind photographers

A successful photography project for young blind students shows that a loss of vision is not as great a limitation as people might think.

Please join us on our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/bangkokpostlearning

Visions of the blind

Pimrapee Thungkasemvathana

A 10-year-old boy took a photo of me. His bulging eyes were clouded and glossy. They rolled uncontrollably in their sockets.

He asked me, “Can I measure your height, please?” He tiptoed to place his hands on my shoulders, then took four steps backwards. Hands steadying the digital camera as he pressed his eyes tightly on the viewfinder, the visually-impaired boy counted to three and clicked the shutter. Then he held the screen up to his eyes, walked towards me to show me the picture. I was centred, skilfully framed.

Sithikorn Mungraiklang, whose sight is badly impaired though not totally blind, was fascinated
by our photographer’s huge camera. He lifted it up, surprised at how heavy it was. “It’s like a gun,” he said.

Today the school for the blind welcomed volunteers from Pict4all, a photography club, which works with the Hua Jai Tai Pab (Photos from the Heart) project. As the name suggests, the project teaches visually-impaired children to use cameras, even if they can’t see.

At 10am, we stood outside the school flagging taxis to Ratchawat Market. Eight children were wearing neon green T-shirts, each with a camera strapped to their wrist. Each had a buddy or a volunteer who acted as their seeing eyes, who had taught them how to take photographs. Some of these children can see, though badly, while others were born blind.

Earlier in preparation, the kids took selfies for later identification. The volunteers worked with them to refresh their memories, watching them turn on the cameras and measure distances with their steps.

Pict4all was founded in 2010 by Nopadon Panya-wuthikrai and his team. “The initial question was whether the handicapped really had to be handicapped from doing certain activities,” Nopadon said. “Taking a photo requires sight and it seems pointless to travel when you can’t see. We challenged this assumption.”

On the day we went along with them, the children were on an assignment to take photos of HM the King in the shops and carts at the market. Besides taking pictures, the assignments requires them to start a conversation, such as to ask the shopkeepers why they hung a photo of the King and Queen and other basic information. This is a way to encourage interaction with people and surroundings.

A volunteer described the surroundings to the students: “Here are the shoes, made from canvas, leather, rubber. Can you smell it? Here are the plastic toys, trucks and cars and fans. Do you know Hello Kitty?”

“The photos aren’t the point. The kids get to interact with people. Many of them had trouble socialising because they were kept at home most of the time,” said volunteer Apivich Rinthapoln. “Some have issues with motor control, because they didn’t play like other kids.”

In a gold shop, the owner had already posed for three other blind children. He was still smiling. The volunteer clapped his hands by the photo of the King for the little boy to know where to aim his camera. Everyone was supportive. They are always pleasantly surprised.

Most of the photographs came out fine; you wouldn’t be able to tell that they were taken by someone who could hardly see. Some were obviously taken with unsteady hands, others have off-centre composition. Yet, the faults weren’t that noticeable.

You can read the full story here: http://www.bangkokpost.com/lifestyle/charities/420565/visions-of-the-blind

สามารถฝึกอ่านออกเสียงและดูคำแปลได้ที่ : http://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/learning-from-news/420621/blind-photographers