Photography is possible for only those who can “see”, goes a popular belief. Ask Bhavesh Patel, 26, a software accessibility tester with an IT company. The visually challenged photographer has shot Bollywood star Katrina Kaif for the Lux advertisement campaign.
Five years after photographing Kaif, Mr. Patel is now taking part in an advocacy campaign, challenging the stereotypes attached with visual disabilities and creating an enabling environment for hundreds of visually challenged people here.
After graduating in Political Science from St. Xavier’s College here in 2011, he was first exposed to photography five years ago when he did a photography course conducted by Partho Bhowmick, the founder of Beyond the Sight Foundation (BSF).
“I thought this is an opportunity for me to learn something new and innovative. It was a month-and- a-half course in which we were introduced to the camera, its structure and how to take different types of images. The teaching went beyond the classroom, and we were taken out for shoots to Kabootarkhana and Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Borivali,” Mr. Patel told The Hindu on the sidelines of a photography workshop he conducted at the Press Club.
Mr. Patel makes ample use of advanced smartphone software while photographing his subjects. “When I receive images on WhatsApp, an object recognition application prepares a textual and verbal description of the photographs. Listening to it, I create a visual map in my mind. This is how I ‘see’ the images,” he said.
“Showing truth and reality” is what Mr. Patel believes is the real work of photography. “People today do not believe in words they hear or read. Photographs give a visual proof and can be used to portray the reality around us. In this digital age, when there are millions of images being produced every day, one needs to think out of the box to make the work stand out. An ideal image is the one that is thought-provoking,” he said.
Mr. Patel believed the “selfie” culture to be pointless until he found a way of shooting one. “I thought why should we take a selfie as we already know how we look? But recently, I found an application called ‘Selfix’. It directs me through voice command to place the phone properly in front of me and helps me in taking a selfie. A month ago, I took my first selfie and I found it really exciting,” he said.
Mr. Patel was one of the four visually challenged photographers who participated in a unique photography workshop conducted by Mr. Bhowmick of the BSF in collaboration with internationally recognised Sightsavers, which is part of a campaign called “Blind View”. His photographs will be displayed in a photo exhibition in Mumbai in August and in Bangalore in September, culminating in a gala event in New Delhi where several renowned personalities will witness and judge the entries.
