This group is for collaboration among O/net members for the Seeing Beyond Sight project. The group was created summer 2006 to get feedback on the Seeing Beyond Sight book as it was being edited and designed. It continues to be used for the SBS Photography Challenge and other discussions and actions.

Get a copy of the book.

• List of upcoming book events and exhibits.

• General discussion thread about the project

Photo by Katy, age 13, Kennesaw, NC

Jackie, one of the first three students to take the class, was incredulous: “What are you thinking, teaching photography to blind people?” As a photographer, I feared losing my eyesight and began to wonder, “If I were blind, could I still make photographs?” I wanted to find out.

A rabbi once told me that in the Talmud, blind people are referred to as "sagi nahor," an Aramaic expression that means "great eyesight." The rabbi explained that it is not necessarily true that people who are blind see less than others; they may see more. There can be seeing beyond sight. As the son of a preacher, I have been predisposed to mystical interpretations most of my life, so this paradox affirmed an intuition I had about these unlikely photographers.

The cameras were point-‘n’-shoot, so the challenge was mostly where to point them. The students would ask questions about their surroundings, feel their subjects, and listen carefully to the hush and noise around them. It was as if they were listening for “sound shadows.”