Sight-impaired photographers display talent and inner vision
AGROUP of blind and partially sighted photographers is proving that sight loss is no barrier to taking fantastic photos – and have an exhibition in the heart of the capital to prove it.
The exhibition comprises photos taken by members of Sight Life, formerly Cardiff Institute for the Blind.
One of the photographers is Andy Busbridge-King, whose life was turned around when he realised he could keep taking photos despite his sight loss. When Andy was diagnosed with glaucoma in 2006, his life changed completely.
He said: “I was out driving and I couldn’t read the road signs properly. I went to an optician and they checked me over... within 10 minutes my life was turned upside down.
“Once you’re given a diagnosis that you’re going blind, your confidence goes and depression starts to kick in – you start going down a slippery slope.”
Andy had long been a keen photographer and especially liked taking landscapes – but after being left with no useful sight in his left eye and very limited sight in his right, he felt unable to carry on with his hobby.
It wasn’t just his love of photography that took a hit – Andy barely left the house for 10 years after his diagnosis.
When Sight Life sent a staff member to try to get Andy out and about, his wife Mandy remembers fearing it would be an “absolute waste of time” because of how hesitant he’d been to leave the house.
But Andy explained: “The onset of mobility cane training from Sight Life enabled me to get out.
“While Michelle Jones [from Sight Life] was here, she said, ‘What do you mean about not going out for 10 years?’.
“I had no confidence to walk out the door and go anywhere, let alone take a camera with me and take photographs. I was having mobility cane training already, it took a little while before I had the confidence to go on my own.
“Suddenly, after all the help from Sight Life, I was able to do it on my own with confidence. It’s absolutely amazing. Michelle asked what I liked to do, and I said ‘I like photography’. She said I could start a photography group in what was then Cardiff Institute for the Blind.”
Fast-forward a little more than 10 years, and Andy’s photos have been part of several exhibitions in Cardiff – and two of them are now on display at Waterloo Tea in Wyndham Arcade.
Andy takes his photos in macro – a super-close-up form of photography.
This means he can set his shots up in his house, and use technology to make use of his limited vision when taking them.
This has enabled him to take pictures of water droplets, for example, at a close distance that brings out a level of detail you probably haven’t seen before.
He explained: “Macro is just unbelievable – the close objects, I can have a whole new world of images. I’ve got extension tubes which bring things closer, and I’ve got a big television I can connect the camera to and get everything how I want it.”
Andy is emotional while we’re chatting, explaining: “I had a succession of operations over 10 years and the glaucoma has stabilised recently.
“I’m in a good place, thanks to Sight Life’s dedication to everybody with sight problems, to try and get them out to live a fulfilling life, to do the things you want to do.”
Mandy described Andy as “100% a complete different person” from the one she saw in the difficult days after his diagnosis.
She said: “He manages as much as I manage. He can get about on his own... he’s got the right attitude to life now. He’s a happy chappie again now.”
Fiona Hall describes herself as a “newbie” compared to the others.
We met Fiona, along with Andy, Des Radcliffe and Tony Morgan, at Waterloo Tea to see the exhibition.
She said: “My picture is of a cruise ship which my mum and I took from Southampton to Norway about five years ago. We were off the ship for five hours and I wanted to get some nice pictures.”
Fiona didn’t think the photo was “anything special” and modestly said: “It’s more luck than judgement because I can’t see the finer details... [just] the shape of the ship and the sky above it.”
But Fiona has always been interested in photography since she was a child – even though a brain tumour at the age of three damaged her eyesight.
She explained her process of taking photos: “If there was a person there in the arcade, I couldn’t tell who they were. If I was taking a photograph in here I would make sure that the picture I was trying to get was surrounded by big things that I can see, like a display cabinet, to make sure I can get everything in.”
Tony, 77, lost his sight “gradually,” starting about 25 years ago.
He said: “I’ve still got peripheral vision – but when I look at your face, it disappears into a grey blob. It got so bad in the end that I had to give up my driver’s licence, sell the car, that sort of thing.”
Like Fiona, Tony carefully sets up his shots so he knows exactly what’s in frame. He sometimes takes photos from a deliberately wide angle, knowing he can take a closer look on a computer and crop when needed.
He added: “I mainly shoot portraits. I’d rather take photos of animals or people than scenes.”
Sight Life’s services go beyond these clubs and activities – the organisation works with the NHS to help patients newly diagnosed with sight loss at the University Hospital of Wales and gives statutory services on behalf of Cardiff and Swansea councils.
Des, 74, was registered blind in 2004, with no central vision at all and just a bit of peripheral vision.
He said: “When I take pictures I make mistakes. There’s something I didn’t see – I scan across it to see it but you still end up with something in the wrong place, but it doesn’t matter. I have a camera with me permanently, some days I’ll spot something and take a picture, others I’ll ignore it. Sometimes I’ll see a picture but can’t get it.”
He added: “You get some people who lose their sight late in life and the only social life they have is through organisations like Sight Life. Great friendships and bonds are made.”