“Wings of Victory” by Will Phillips: Photo of a pigeon flying from the porthole of HMS Victory at Portsmouth Dockyard. Taken with a Canon Digital SLR in sepia.
I met Will Phillips at the photography workshop in Canterbury and when he sent me an email with some pictures he took of me, I asked him if he’d like to give an interview about his experiences as a visually impaired photographer. So, here’s the interview:
How much and what do you actually see?
My right eye retina detached in 2011. So the vision in this eye is distorted. My left eye’s vision does not allow me to pick out detail and has another of floaters. Both eyes are very sensitive to light so a bright day makes it very difficult to see much because of glare. On the reading chart I can make nothing out in my right eye and only the top letter with the left eye.
Did you take pictures before you became visually impaired? And how has your visual impairment changed the way you take and look at pictures?
My eyesight has also been bad from birth but has continued to get worse and I am getting older. My father was a professional photographer so I have been brought up with cameras. I studied photography as my secondary subject with Product Design at Portsmouth Art College. Eventually I got a job as a Collections Officer with the local Museums Service. I eventually became responsible for the historic Camera Collection which I built up over a number of years. I then did a lot of studio photography. This was mostly photographing museum objects.
As my eyes have got worse I did find that the type of photography I liked to do which was abstract was becoming impossible. I was retracted to taking general views of scenes. It is only since I have been mixing with other VIP* photographers that I have found I can again take abstract photographs as well as other types of images. I do not like studio photography, I like taking photographs of ‘the moment’, getting ‘out there’ and photographing something great.
Do you think visually impaired photographers approach photography differently than sighted photographers?
Yes but every VIPs eyesight is different. So I cannot remark on how other photographers approach their work. It is a case of making adjustments to the equipment you use and choosing subjects that you feel happy taking.
How do you choose what you want to photograph? And what subjects do you prefer?
I enjoy taking abstract images, see an object, objects or a view usually close up to isolate shape and sometimes colour to achieve an interesting image.I find you do have to study the subject more intently to find what you are looking for. Also changing the aspect, moving around a scene or object changes your view and you see something to photograph you did not expect. Also luck is a factor in taking interesting images. Being in the right place at the right time to take the perfect image.
What camera types have you used already and what are their advantages and disadvantages for visually impaired photographers in your opinion?
I have used 35mm film SLRs (Single Lens Reflex cameras) and compact cameras. My father used Leica’s. He used for his work a Leica 1 and two Leica IIs. These cameras dating from the 1920s and 30s. I used these cameras when I was younger and my eyesight was up to using the small viewfinders.
My first camera I think was a Kodak using 127 roll film. My first SLR was a Zenit EM. It was nicknamed the ‘Tank’ because it was so heavy. At Art College I moved onto the Pentax MX the smallest manual 35mm available in the early 1980s. All my friends had MXs or ME Supers**. These cameras had viewfinders which made these really easy to use.
I purchased my first digital camera in about 2002. A Kyocera Finecam S3. It is a credit card sized camera with a very small LCD screen but it has a viewfinder. So I could use it for everyday photography. After that I purchased a Kodak EasyShare ‘bridge’. This had a viewfinder and a large LCD screen also a very long zoom lens. I took this to Australia and New Zealand in 2005 and came back with 2,500 photographs. I then used Panasonic TZ2 then a TZ8 compact travel cameras. I had to fit each camera with a fold down shade so I could see the rear screen.
What is your favourite camera, and why?
Difficult question, since I have joined with a group of VIP photographers via Blind Veterans UK and found I could still take interesting photographs I have gone a bit ‘mad’ purchasing different cameras. The camera I bought to replace the Kodak was a Panasonic TZ2 travel compact. I then later bought a TZ8. Then I left it a few years and now have a TZ60 with a 30x optical zoom. Which has a great advantage over the earlier models now having a viewfinder. I always have this camera in my ruck sack.
How do you select the best pictures for exhibitions for example? Do you ask sighted people for their opinion?
I select the images via my computer. Yes usually only my sister and brother in law.
Do you have a special system to sort your pictures in order to find them again, e.g. renaming them?
Only Windows Photo Gallery, then I work on the images with Photoshop Elements.
Do you want people to know that you are visually impaired when they look at your pictures or do you prefer not to tell them?
It depends who I am dealing with. Usually no as I want the image to be judged not me.
What reactions do you usually get when you tell people you’re a visually impaired photographer?
Surprise
Do you think the work of visually impaired photographers is measured with different standards than that of sighted photographers? For example some people might be afraid to criticise your work or they say something like: “It’s good for someone who has limited sight.”
By what I have heard yes. I have had no personal experience of this issue. I think some sighted photographers can get upset if their work seems lacking against a VIP photographer.
Do you know of resources for visually impaired photographers, e.g. websites, workshops and virtual and real life groups and communities?
Look at this website, www.accessphotography.org. It is set up for photographers who have a disability.
Can you give some tips to people, who want to take up photography but don’t know where and how to start?
Get some advice on equipment. If possible make adjustments to the equipment to make it more accessible. Try and get some help from a competent sighted photographer who could accompany you on your first forays into the unknown.
What are your plans for the future?
To continue taking photographs as long as it is possible with my eyesight. Also to have my photographs see by the public. I want to be known as a worthy photographer and not a person with a disability who happens to take photographs.
*VIP = Visually impaired
** Are Pentax 35 mm SLRs from the early 1980s. The MX was a manual camera. The ME Super was a manual and automatic camera.
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