Thanks for the response. I was looking at the picture and realizing that one could sense the space by feel, heat, noise and the warmth from sunlight. ----- Original Message ----- From: "pete eckert" <[email protected]> To: <pinhole-discussion@p at ???????> Sent: Monday, February 25, 2002 1:54 PM Subject: Re: [pinhole-discussion] New image "saloon" uploaded on behalf of Pete Eckert
> You are correct. I have only been totally blind for a few years. I still > dream in full vision. I've been learning how to take pictures for about a > year. > > I was a sculptor. I lost my vision slowly. I adapted and got an MBA. Four > years ago I left my job as a business consultant. I spent a while > considering what to do next. First I was a martial arts instructor. Martial > arts have been one of my methods of adaptation. That job made me realize > that the senses could be pushed much further than I assumed. Now I am > returning to art to apply what I learned from the last job. > > Vision takes up an enormous amount of nerve bundles in the brain. It is > possible to rewire all of that to be of use to the other senses, as long as > you have a understanding of the data coming in. Like a baby learning to > see, sight is meaningless until the mind can grasp the information. I am > working on learning how to translate the other senses to a minds eye view. > > enough background info, on to responding to your post. > > I would still have some interest in light if I was blind from birth: like a > astronomer viewing objects in space using radio waves. I use sighted folks > descriptions of my finished photos to confirm or disprove what I envisioned > in my minds eye. The process of taking photos is an event for me not a > product. Once the product has been manufactured I involve sighted people in > the art process. Their descriptions of my finished photos help me sharpen > my senses to go out and apply what I have learned. I avoid asking for any > help in taking the actual picture because that would alter the photos by > making them from a sighted perspective. > > I have learned to question my own assumptions and those of others. I focus > on exploring the range of my senses. this makes what I am up to more > conceptual art rather than photography. While trying to teach sighted > fighters to spar blind folded I learned that sight masks the other senses. > It is as if there is only a set amount of attention available. When sight > is removed the other senses don't become stronger. The brain just has that > area once used by sight available. actively attempting to rewire that area > results in a better ability to translate the other senses to minds eye > sight. I suspect the areas in my brain once used by sight would still show > up as active if studied with medical devices: (as if sight was stimulated > in a dream. > Conceiving this particular photo involved stepping in from the warm sun > into a cool bar. Sound gave a clear impression of the dimensions of the > room. I could hear the people at the bar. So they were easy to track. I can > track about 6-8peoples movements at once before I become a little > overwhelmed. I like a complete range of black to white in most of my images > so I went to the coolest area knowing that would be the darkest. There was > no air conditioning running. Once in the back of the bar I listened for all > of the window openings and doors to the out side. Knowing where the > openings are allows me to know about the lighting. getting a drink was a > good excuse to investigate the bar area by touch. I returned to my seat by > a different rout to explore the area further. I moved to a lower seat to > listen for the reflected sound bouncing off lower objects. the people were > coming and going a little to quickly for what I thought was a pin hole > shot. I am still blushing the borrowed camera was zone plate. I waited for > some heavy drinkers to settle in at the bar. I setup slowly taking in as > much information as I could. as I was told by a wise old Grandfather " > anything worth doing is worth doing slow". using slow speed film gives me a > wider range of reciprocity failure. It is more forgiving to errors in light > estimation. > > > Hopefully the above was of interest and answered your questions.. > > Pete > > P.S. > > In response to Andy's post-- If I drink to much I tend to forget to advance > the film > > > _______________________________________________ > Post to the list as PLAIN TEXT only - no HTML > Pinhole-Discussion mailing list > Pinhole-Discussion@p at ??????? > unsubscribe or change your account at > http://www.???????/discussion/ >
