Blind Photographer Teaches A New Way To See

Gerardo Nigenda was a blind photographer. Born in Mexico in 1967, he lost his sight at the age of 25. He took up photography at 32, when documentary photographer, Mary Ellen Mark, gave him a Yashika pocket camera. A new book entitled The Blind Photographer features the work of visually impaired artists from South America and Europe and is available now through Redstone press. Nigenda’s work appears in the book.

Nigenda’s work in the book features black and white images of the female form where he is reaching out to feel what is in front of him. He would then use braille to provide a literal description of what the image was depicting, and as his work evolved the text would describe what had led him to take the photograph. The braille is literally punched into the photograph paper so it can be seen and read.

“An erotic visual poem, in which braille text is punched into monochrome images of bodies and faces” (from The Blind Photographer)

This body of work by blind photographers shows how the world is perceived by people without sight. The role of these photographers is defined in the short film ‘Sight of Emotion,’ which details the lives of Nigenda and other blind photographers in Mexico.

“The involvement of the blind in photography is very important because it serves as a sort of antidote against blindness – not of the blind, but of those who can see! It’s important to note that the book is not ‘about’ the blind, but it will provoke the sighted to imagine more fully the human condition of those who are visually impaired.” (from The Blind Photographer).

Gerardo Nigenda died in 2010. Initially after losing his sight he managed the braille books in his local library and went on to teach maths, computer science and braille before he discovered photography.

“So photographing without seeing usually brought him into contact with the other, and forced him to create a link with what he was going to photograph. He could not keep his distance or be passive. In his case, photography was a completely sensual experience, in which the rest of the senses were involved” said Joanne Trujillo.