When photography becomes accessible to everyone

“Take 10-15 pictures of the same subject. The tree or the lake will not move; [you must] move yourself,” Partho Bhowmick, founder of Blind with Camera, instructed a group of 40 visually impaired individuals at the immersive photography workshop, “The Art of Seeing Differently”, conducted by The Accessibility Research Centre (ARC), IIT Madras, on Friday. The workshop was all about how photography is not just the creation of a visual product.

“It is a form of self-expression where persons who are visually impaired can take pictures using non-visual senses and cognitive skills,” he adds.The trees emerging out of the lake was the subject that Uday Kethan Dharanikota, a PhD Scholar from The English and Foreign Languages University, was photographing at the workshop. “With the help of some AI-powered apps that guide us about the scene in front of us, we too, can ace this art of taking a photo,” he says.

His grades were once affected when he was unable to take a photography-related course during his undergraduate programme. “There were not many avenues some years ago, but now, technology is such a boon for persons with disabilities,” he adds. Another PhD scholar from University of Hyderabad, Thejaswini, first went in for the tactile experience of the tree trunk, before clicking pictures of it at the workshop.

She says she stopped taking photographs after losing her vision four years ago. Head of ARC, Hemachandran Karah, shared how the world usually only talks about what you cannot do, adding that Evgen Bavcar, who lost his sight, went on to become a renowned photographer in the 1970s. “Photography for the visually impaired is indeed about democratising access and also about the joy of feeling included,” he adds.

J. Karthika, postdoctoral researcher, ARC, says the reason for conducting such workshops is that many assume that photography is a visual medium and is not for those who are visually impaired, which is not the case. She adds how they also want the visually impaired individuals to use these skills in their domains.

Walking from one spot to another across the IIT-Madras campus for the workshop venues, what suddenly stopped the budding photographers were the blackbucks and spotted deer. “We too get excited when we hear a deer is passing by. I will go show my family and friends that I saw these with the photographs I took,” says English literature student Nivedha.

“I may not able to see what I clicked, but I can make memories and have a digital diary, too,” she adds.The event is being organised in collaboration with the Chennai Institute of Journalism, Inclusive Education-IIT Madras, The Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj Centre for Advanced Research on Spirituality, Science, and Society, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, SRM Department of Media studies-SRMIST, Karna Vidya Foundation, Meiporul Chennai Foundation Trust, and Alliance Française of Madras.. Published - July 03, 2026 11:54 pm IST Read Comments Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit READ LATER SEE ALL Remove