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Who Am II was born with damaged Optic Nerves, a condition called Bilateral Optic Atrophy Leaving me with 20/200 vision that is non correctable. This classifies me as legally blind. Ever since I was very young, I have been obsessed with photography I soon learned how to print photos. Although it is difficult to select correct focus through a 35 mm camera, I still use manual focusing Minolta cameras. Photography has helped me see the world around me better by forcing me to take more notice of the detail that my vision would normally miss. Often I have had to point out items that others can't find. This led me to the expression "20/20 vision, and walking around Blind." Sometimes people ask me, what I see. This is very hard to answer, because my vision has been bad since birth. I don't really know what I am missing. I can only answer that reading is difficult. I need magnification to read all but large print. Also I might not recognize an old friend passing bye, unless they were very near and I was looking very closely. It seems to me that we are constantly bombarded with so much sensory input, that we limit our senses, and cease to "see" the world around us in detail. As a result our surroundings diminish in value, until life is just a day to day rat race. Take for example the great feeling you get when you are out in the country, and the beauty, and even the smell of the air seem overwhelming. Filling you with warmth. This feeling can be carried home to your everyday life. By just taking more notice of what is around you, and seeing the uniqueness in life. This is the meaning in my photography. We need to remember to open up all of our senses, and appreciate the world around us as if we were children seeing it for the first time. The presentation that you are about to see is limited to around 2 shots per page, so that each page may load more quickly. Most have been hand printed. My greatest hand printing challenge was Sawtooth Ridge in the Trinity Alps. That image took me a month to complete by hand. No electronic help at all. One photograph of the ridge was shot close up and the other from a distance. In the darkroom I reshaped the ridge on both until it matched up. Then I put the two shots together. Adobe Photoshop was used on some photos like those seen on Modified Self Portraits. Best
of luck, Terry Hammon Useful Resources Check to see if a web page is accessible to the disabled National Federation of the Blind Welcome to disabilitybooks.com from Amazon.com The Worldwide Virtual Community of the Disabled links together the Home Pages of Disabled People. Home of "Where Limitations Continue to Expand" A very talented visually impaired photographer.
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