Sony and Clitheroe photographer Gary Williamson launch Through Their Lens photography collection for World Sight Day
An inspirational photographer from Clitheroe who went blind at 18 has said he wants to challenge stereotypes after launching a collaborative exhibition with world-renowned company Sony.
Gary Williamson, first drawn to photography as a teenager at art college in 1989, found himself unable to pursue his passion after going blind, due to Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy - a rare genetic disease, whilst backpacking around Europe at 18. Gary then had to hitchhike back from Gibraltar to Manchester, something he never imagined doing.
With the advent of digital cameras and their LCD displays 16 years later, Gary found that he could make out enough of the image he was capturing to start taking photos again.
Now, with the help of Sony Europe, Gary has launched a new photography collection, Through Their Lens, to showcase how innovation can remove certain obstacles and empower creatives to realise their potential for a more accessible future.
The work coincides with World Sight Day by inviting viewers to experience the world as Gary does and demonstrates how technology and creativity make photography accessible to people who are blind or partially sighted.
He said: “My narrative has always been not to look at what is lost, but what is possible. My story is about inclusion, resilience, and empowerment, and with my photography I hope to challenge stereotypes and create a deeper appreciation of all forms of sight.
“In life, I am constantly recording the world around me, whether through touch, sound, taste, smell or what sight I have. With my sight, I’m reliant on using the contrast between things, like the pavement and a double yellow line, to know where I am and where I need to be. That’s one of the reasons I often shoot in black and white, because the contrast allows me to see the shot better and it connects me to the feeling I got at the time when I took it.
“I want to create art that pleases me, something that is from my eyesight and creates fine art. I only keep a shot if it creates a story, it isn’t about making something that’s pretty, it’s about leaving someone with a question or emotion.”
Sony has worked with blind and partially sighted people and their representative organisations, including the UK’s Royal National Institute of Blind People, on several projects to make products like its Alpha camera range more accessible for blind and partially sighted people.
Gary shot his Through Their Lens collection using Sony’s Alpha 7C II E-Mount Camera, which comes with accessibility features such as a screen reader function to read out menu items, which is activated out-of-the-box with a long press of the menu button for easy setup.
“Sony is deeply committed to making our products and experiences accessible, to be used and enjoyed by as many people as possible. It has been a pleasure to collaborate with Gary on this collection and to show how creativity and accessible technology can enrich people’s lives, such as the ability to capture and enjoy incredible photographs.” said Joe Clark-Jones, Accessibility Promotions Lead at Sony Europe.