![Gustave Caillebotte. Paris Street, Rainy Day (La Place de l’Europe, temps de pluie). 1877. Oil on canvas. Art Institute of Chicago. [Source: Wikimedia Commons]](http://blindflaneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/gustave_caillebotte_paris_street_rainy_day_1877_wiki.jpg "gustave_caillebotte_paris_street_rainy_day")
![Fog at Isle Royale [Source: wildmengoneborneo.com]](http://blindflaneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/isle_royale_fog.jpg "Fog at Isle Royale [Source: wildmengoneborneo.com]")
"Brendan, this is what the world looks like all the time to me. Just a little fog. It’s a fine day for boating on the Great Lakes.” Without missing a stroke he turned to dart a skeptical glance at me. Brendan the Navigator. When we named him I didn’t tell his mother everything the legendary Irish name implied. But I imagined him taking on the role of navigator for me. Growing up with Coastal Survey charts and tales of Great Lakes shipwrecks, he came to know Superior as another home. He never doubted the wisdom of canoeing there with a father who was half blind. ![President George H.W. Bush signs into law the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on July 26, 1990 as Justin Dart looks on. [Source: ucp.org]](http://fairuselab.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/ada_signing_072690_ucp_2.jpg "ada_signing_072690_ucp_2")
![Shepard Fairey’s “Barack Obama/Hope” image went viral during the 2008 election. Then controversy about the image’s source transformed it into the poster child for fair use in the public debate over copyright and free culture. Now FULAB takes “Hope” as its icon [Image source: Wikipedia]](http://fairuselab.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/shepard_fairey_hope_2008.jpg "shepard_fairey_hope_2008")
If there is an emerging genetic underclass, I could run for class president or class clown. Read more in 
The legendary Kiki of Montparnasse posed for Man Ray’s 
Rue des Rosiers. [Photo by lodrorigdzin; all rights reserved]
I didn’t realize Friday night that when Alex said he dropped by Café Mouffe, he wasn’t simply humoring my imaginary conceit. He was there, in Paris, and the photos of Café Delmas were shot and posted on his Flickr site that afternoon. I am touched by this [...]
Entries Tagged as 'blind photographers'
Imaging Paris: From Mouffe to the Marais
2
September 7, 2008 at 9:52pm
by Mark Willis
IVe · Imaging Paris · Rue Mouffetard · Ve · blind photographers Add Your Comment
Imaging Paris: Café Delmas
0
September 6, 2008 at 9:44pm
by Mark Willis
Delmas-mouffetard. [Photo by lodrorigdzin; all rights reserved]
Here are two more of Alex’s photos shot yesterday at Café Delmas, the inspiration for Café Mouffe. Of the shot above he writes: “at last, at last, I have a coffee cup shot again. and at Delmas, no less, in honour of the Blind Flaneur.” I do feel [...]
Café Mouffe · Imaging Paris · Rue Mouffetard · Ve · blind photographers Add Your Comment
Where the Mouffe Begins: Delmas
3
September 5, 2008 at 8:03pm
by Mark Willis
Alex dropped by Café Mouffe tonight with this photo of the Mouffe’s inspiration, Café Delmas on Place de la Contrascarppe. Many thanks!
Café Mouffe · Imaging Paris · Paris · Ve · blind photographers Add Your Comment
Imaging Paris: Bouquinistes
0
August 15, 2008 at 3:28pm
by Mark Willis
[Photos by lodrorigdzin; all rights reserved]
Alex was in Paris last week, and he kindly asked if he could photograph anything in particular for me. He knew I’d love these images of the book stalls on the Seine. The offer was enough to set me loose in the time-space continuum. Perched on a ladder half a [...]
Bouquiniste · Imaging Paris · Seine · VIe · Ve · blind photographers Add Your Comment
Henry Butler on Blind Photography
0
June 2, 2008 at 8:59pm
by Mark Willis
Henry Butler promotes his latest recording, PiaNOLA Live, on NPR Music. He also plays some of the tunes on the grand piano in NPR’s Studio 4A. The best part of the interview is a 2-minute clip about Butler’s photography:
“I’m not trying to prove anything by doing this to anybody,” Butler says. “I’m just growing, [...]
NPR · New Orleans · Playing by Ear · blind photographers Add Your Comment
Hiatus: Stop and Smell the Roses
1
June 1, 2008 at 8:00pm
by Mark Willis
Mary Rose (above) vied with the climbing Colette as the first rose of the season. I’ve tried a variety of David Austin’s line of English roses over the years, and this is one of the few to thrive in my over-shaded garden. Ms. Modigliani has great success with the English roses in Oakville — her [...]
blind photographers · flowers · garden · village Add Your Comment
In the Company of Irises
1
May 30, 2008 at 8:14am
by Mark Willis
Two companions have led me astray this week as I swore off blogging so I could work on restoring my gardens. One is this startling white iris, which I’ve waited three years to bring again to bloom. The other is the red-tailed hawk that streaks across the treetops, shrieking on the wing. It [...]
blind photographers · flowers · garden Add Your Comment
In the Glen: Solomon’s Seal, True or False?
4
May 18, 2008 at 8:00pm
by Mark Willis
Updated 030210: False Solomon’s Seal (Smilacina racemosa) blooms in the Glen beginning in mid-May. [Photo by a blind flaneur]
As a kid I learned to distinguish two flowers called Solomon’s seal, one identified as “True” and the other “False.” The flower perched above the leaves in the first, and below them in the second. The [...]
Glen · blind photographers · flowers Add Your Comment
Augmented Illusions: Tapping
0
April 15, 2008 at 12:15pm
by Mark Willis
Alex de Jong recommends headphones for the full effect of tapping. The video is accompanied by this text:
Natural behaviour of blind people is all too often seen as deviant. Many who are are blind are told not to click, tap their canes loudly, or stomp slightly. These are all echolocation methods and are [...]
blind · blind photographers · disability · sense · street · white cane Add Your Comment
Augmented Illusions: passers-by (hoogstraat)
6
April 14, 2008 at 12:15am
by Mark Willis
I’ve often wondered how others would respond if they saw the street and its movement as I see it with what’s left of my peripheral vision. Rotterdam sensory artist Alex de Jong created a video sequence of time-lapse photographs that conveys something of my perception very compellingly. See it on his blog, Augmented [...]
Art · blind photographers · cities · sense · street · street art Add Your Comment