Documenting the lives and works of three blind photographers, celebrated sports photographer Neil Leifer directs a compelling story of the production of art under extreme circumstances. Dark Light: The Art of Blind Photographers , which premieres on HBO2 on November 17, follows the creative exploits of Pete Eckert, who uses a Braille light meter and connects to his subjects via sound; Henry Butler, a jazz pianist that uses vibrations to capture his sitters; and Bruce Hall, who has limited sight and shoots underwater photography — day and night — and, more recently, makes portraits of his twin autistic boys.
Leifer adds commentary from several big name photographers — including Mary Ellen Mark and Harry Benson — and photographer/curator Douglas McCulloh, who organized a 2009 show of blind photographers from around the world, titled Sight Unseen , at the California Museum of Photography. “Most people think that photographers operate through sight and their eyes, but photographers know that they actually operate through their mind,” said McCulloh. “These photographers, since they have no sight, are making purely mental constructions of these photographs.”
Click through below for a gallery of images and the film trailer.
Pete Eckert / courtesy HBO Documentary Films
Henry Butler / courtesy HBO Documentary Films
Bruce Hall / courtesy HBO Documentary Films
Bruce Hall / courtesy HBO Documentary Films
Pete Eckert / courtesy HBO Documentary Films
Pete Eckert / courtesy HBO Documentary Films
Henry Butler / courtesy HBO Documentary Films