Sightsavers—an NGO that works towards treating and preventing blindness and inadvocacy for the visually impaired on social, political, and accessibility levels—set up an exhibition just this past December of photographs taken by bling photographers. The exhibit took place at the New Delhi branch of the British Council during the week of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, an event that bring attention to the plight of persons with disabilities all over the world. The photos were selected as part of “The Blind View” campaign, a series of exhibitions featuring photography produced by blind photographers put together by Sightsavers and the Beyond Sight Foundation with the patronage of Her Highness SheikhaArwa Al Qassimi.

Padmashree Raghu Rai, the famous photographer and photojournalist, was present, as was RN Mohanty, the CEO of Sightsavers’ Indian branch, Gill Caldicott, Director Operations, British Council India, and ParthoBhowmick, Founder of the Beyond Sight Foundation.

At the center of the exhibition were roughly thirty photographs taken by blind photography enthusiasts. These pictures portrayed various themes regarding life for the visually impaired as well as visually impaired subjects engaging in a number of different activities. Each photograph showed a unique aspect of the blind experience to viewers.

RN Mohanty noted that “This initiative is our effort to showcase the glimpses of the life of a blind person: how they perform their daily chores, how do they use assistive technology to their advantage at the office and so on…”
Mr. Bhowmick discussed the process of the workshop, remarking that “The photography workshop took place earlier this year and the participants were trained to click perfect pictures under skilled supervision. The workshop had also witnessed participation of a renowned visually impaired photographer Bhavesh Patel, who did a photo-shoot of Bollywood Actress Katrina Kaif.”

“British Council is delighted to partner with Sightsavers to provide a platform to these amazingly talented photographers to project their work,” said Gill Calidcott. She added that“Sightsavers’ photography exhibition is a great initiative which not only showcases the work and talent of the visually impaired, but also gives a chance to the general public to appreciate the beauty pictured by them in their photographs.”

In addition to the workshop conducted in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore also held workshops that produced photographs that contributed to the exhibitions. Screenings were held for VIPs as well as the general public. Sightsavers even made arrangements for visually impaired singers to musically entertain exhibit-goers, a perfect complement to the blind photographers’ work that was being featured. The musical performance came about as a result of a joint effort with the Hosla Charitable Trust. The exhibit concluded with activities designed to give exhibit attendees a taste of life from the perspective of the visually impaired.

About Sightsavers:
Sightsavers is a registered charity that works to prevent blindness, restore sight and advocate for social inclusion and equal rights for people with disabilities. The organisation has been working in India since 1966. Sightsavers in India to date has been successful in reaching out to 53.4 million people, conducting 36.2 million eye treatments, performing 4.9 million eye operations.

For more information, log on to www.sightsaversindia.in.

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