IIT Madras hosts photography workshop for 40 visually impaired participants

On Friday, 40 visually impaired individuals participated in an immersive photography workshop titled 'The Art of Seeing Differently' at the Accessibility Research Centre (ARC) inside the IIT Madras campus. The event focused on teaching participants how to take photographs using their non-visual senses, cognitive skills, and assistive technology.

Conducted by Partho Bhowmick, the founder of 'Blind with Camera', the workshop aimed to show that photography is a form of self-expression accessible to everyone. Bhowmick instructed the group to take 10 to 15 pictures of the same subject, advising them to move themselves since the subjects, like trees or lakes, remain still.

Participants used assistive technology to help guide their photography. Uday Kethan Dharanikota, a PhD scholar from The English and Foreign Languages University, photographed trees emerging from a lake. He explained that AI-powered apps helped guide them about the scene in front of them. Dharanikota shared that his grades were once affected when he could not take a photography-related course during his undergraduate studies due to a lack of avenues, but noted that modern technology has become a boon for persons with disabilities.

Another participant, Thejaswini, a PhD scholar from the University of Hyderabad, used a tactile approach by feeling a tree trunk before taking its picture. She shared that she had stopped taking photographs after losing her vision four years ago.

During the workshop, participants walked across the IIT Madras campus, where they stopped to photograph local wildlife, including blackbucks and spotted deer. Nivedha, an English literature student, expressed excitement about capturing these moments to share with her family and friends as a digital diary of memories.

Hemachandran Karah, the Head of ARC, stated that photography for the visually impaired is about democratising access and the joy of feeling included. Postdoctoral researcher J. Karthika added that the workshop was organized to challenge the assumption that photography is strictly a visual medium, encouraging participants to apply these skills in their own domains.

The event was organized in collaboration with several partners, including the Chennai Institute of Journalism, Inclusive Education-IIT Madras, the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the Karna Vidya Foundation.