Self Portrait

I am a legally blind photographer, based in Chapel Hill. Though I am always looking for that ‘decisive moment’, I take photos with a variety of styles and subjects, with a focus on people, both candid and portrait.

Quite a few of my images have been in print. Besides my freelance work for the Chapel Hill News, my photographs have been featured on websites, on blogs, on a CD cover and on an upcoming book cover. The Open Eye Cafe in Carrboro, NC hosted an exhibition, Sight Unseen, of my photos for the month of March, 2008. The exhibit was ppart of the 2nd Friday Artwalk on March 14, 2008. All Aboard was chosen for the cover (and for November) of the local Town
Planner calendar for 2008. Several photos and an accompanying interview have been published in issue 14 of RE:UP Magazine. Check it out here.

Photography and Me

The negative is comparable to the composer’s score and the print to its performance. Each performance differs in subtle ways. (Ansel Adams)

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I saw an Ansel Adams exhibit several years ago at Boston’s MFA, but found the above quote at a tiny, temporary exhibit in the basement of the Art Institute of Chicago a couple of years ago. The exhibit, titled From Darkroom to Digital, really grabbed my attention and changed my thinking about photography.

I edit my raw images a lot on the computer (not major photoshopping, but framing and color fixes). This comes less from Ansel Adams’ philosophy than my inability to see well what I am shooting. My ‘negatives’ are rarely that good because of my vision, but a little straightening, cropping and other minor adjustments occasionally uncover a gem.

To sate the technologically curious, I began serious photography with a Sony DSC-F717 5MP camera, then processed a bit in Google’s Picasa with a 20” widescreen monitor. I have upgraded to a Nikon D40X with a couple of inexpensive lenses and also to Adobe Lightroom. I have no formal training whatsoever in photography, but have learned much from friends (Dave C. especially), Flickr, the Strobist blog and the occasional book.

My Eyesight and Me

Game Over

I am legally blind, having been born with Startgardt disease, a form of juvenile macular degeneration, which has affected the shape of my life in some strange ways. I am intugued by how my pictures must reflect my vision (or lack thereof) and have been exploring this theme in my images.

You can read much more about this exploration through my part of the Project BlindSighted here on Blind Photographers: BlindSighted: Tim O’Brien .

More about Me

You can find out more about me at my blog, tim o’brien photos, where I blog about photography, accessibility and, occasionally, their intersection. You can see more of my images on my Flickr page. You can even follow me on Twitter.

Istanbul Birds in Flight II

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