Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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How do you perceive yourself and your environment? (self.Blind)
submitted by Sexual_Blender
Hello! I'm an art student who's currently working on a series about self-perception.
The goal of this series is to explore how people people perceive themselves, both literally and figurative, through their affliction or condition. How does a blind or visually impaired person literally see themselves? What do they observe and feel about it? What do they perceive around them, how do they feel about it? Through a single portrait, I want to convey these thoughts and observations.
I would love to talk to someone on this sub who can answer these questions and help me understand better their condition, so that I can accurately depict this in my work. I don't need a lot of time or pictures or anything, Just a conversation or two so that I can learn.
Thank you!
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EDIT: Thank you to those who contributed, I have found someone who is willing to help me in detail. I learned a lot more about visual impairment, so thanks to those who took the time to explain their conditions to me. I apologize for any miscommunications or lack of clarity my post had.
The goal of this series is to explore how people people perceive themselves, both literally and figurative, through their affliction or condition. How does a blind or visually impaired person literally see themselves? What do they observe and feel about it? What do they perceive around them, how do they feel about it? Through a single portrait, I want to convey these thoughts and observations.
I would love to talk to someone on this sub who can answer these questions and help me understand better their condition, so that I can accurately depict this in my work. I don't need a lot of time or pictures or anything, Just a conversation or two so that I can learn.
Thank you!
​
EDIT: Thank you to those who contributed, I have found someone who is willing to help me in detail. I learned a lot more about visual impairment, so thanks to those who took the time to explain their conditions to me. I apologize for any miscommunications or lack of clarity my post had.
quanin 3 points 4y ago
Love to help, but honestly? I wouldn't even know how to answer. I mean how does a sighted person perceive themselves or their environment? Could you possibly describe that without using sensations etc I wouldn't be familiar with as a blind person? Because essentially, you're asking me to do the same... and even if I could, I wouldn't know how to do it in a way that wouldn't be unfamiliar to you as a sighted person.
saizai 2 points 4y ago
I think that, without actually experiencing it, you simply are not going to be able to understand what it's like even for something basic like navigation, let alone what it's like in general life.
Especially since you want to depict this in a visual medium, when the senses we use to understand the world are everything else, things that you aren't even aware of, even though you perceive them. (I've taught blind navigation techniques to sighted people 1-on-1. I promise this isn't an exaggeration.)
Doing this without also being some sort of inspiration/disability porn is even more difficult.
Your starting premise of "how does a blind person literally see themselves" is, um, really seriously missing the point of what "blind" means. Your sense of visual self-image simply does not apply here.
And you want to depict this in _one_ portrait, when in fact there's a huge amount of variation; that's like "draw one person to represent all Black people in the US". It's kinda insulting; we're not all the same, y'know. You could try instead drawing an _individual_ person.
Especially since you want to depict this in a visual medium, when the senses we use to understand the world are everything else, things that you aren't even aware of, even though you perceive them. (I've taught blind navigation techniques to sighted people 1-on-1. I promise this isn't an exaggeration.)
Doing this without also being some sort of inspiration/disability porn is even more difficult.
Your starting premise of "how does a blind person literally see themselves" is, um, really seriously missing the point of what "blind" means. Your sense of visual self-image simply does not apply here.
And you want to depict this in _one_ portrait, when in fact there's a huge amount of variation; that's like "draw one person to represent all Black people in the US". It's kinda insulting; we're not all the same, y'know. You could try instead drawing an _individual_ person.
Sexual_Blender [OP] 1 points 4y ago
I guess I should have put "see" in quotes. When sighted people describe themselves, they have characteristics they use like color, shape, etc. My question, if I had properly worded it, was more "What characteristics would you use to describe your physical appearance". Obviously color and shape would not be those characteristics in most cases. I also wasn't clear in what I was trying to draw.
I'm not trying to draw a generalized portrait of all visually impaired person, I'm trying to draw a portrait of a specific person, who could describe to me the specifics of their condition and their lifestyle.
My art itself is also not limited to just 2 dimensional depictions. I was considering, based on the input of someone who's portrait I'm doing, to use sculpture/relief techniques, use different texture materials, and add responsive elements to the piece in order to capture something that wouldn't work in 2D. These are all clarifications I should have made in the original post, I'm sorry for any miscommunications.
I'm not trying to draw a generalized portrait of all visually impaired person, I'm trying to draw a portrait of a specific person, who could describe to me the specifics of their condition and their lifestyle.
My art itself is also not limited to just 2 dimensional depictions. I was considering, based on the input of someone who's portrait I'm doing, to use sculpture/relief techniques, use different texture materials, and add responsive elements to the piece in order to capture something that wouldn't work in 2D. These are all clarifications I should have made in the original post, I'm sorry for any miscommunications.
Headphone-Actress 2 points 4y ago
Not sure if this will help, but I’m legally blind and have some very limited vision. I can only see stuff that’s within a 6 foot radius around me, and even then I can’t recognize people’s faces. So whenever I’m in a crowd of people, all I can really see is just a bunch of faceless silhouettes. The same applies to text, I can’t read small print, or most signs unless I get close to them or take a picture. So whiteboards, road signs, and papers etc just look like scribbles most of the time. I hope this helps a bit with your project! I’d be happy to answer any other specific questions or explain more through messages if needed.
Cancerbro -2 points 4y ago
Please refrain from doing this if you're not blind, do you realise how insensitive it is? We are not your culture to appropriate for vertue-signaling
Sexual_Blender [OP] 0 points 4y ago
I apologise if it's insensitive, but I don't understand how I'm appropriating a culture. I'm just trying to develop a piece as a part of a series where I explore others' experiences.
Also I'm not sure how this is virtue signaling. These pieces are neither for display nor sale, they are part of my personal exploration and are for class grade only.
Also I'm not sure how this is virtue signaling. These pieces are neither for display nor sale, they are part of my personal exploration and are for class grade only.
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