Arts for All Gallery presents SHOOTING BLIND: Photography by the Visually Impaired, opening Tuesday, September 14 and continuing through Friday, November 5, 2004.  The exhibition, presented in conjunction with Atlanta Celebrates Photography, is a project of New York City?s Seeing with Photography, a collective that has been active for more than fifteen years, and all of whom have some degree of visual impairment - including some who are totally blind. All of the photographs are portraits; self-portraits, portraits of one blind photographer by another, or portraits of the photographers? assistants, who work in the darkroom with them facilitating the printing of the photographs.  These remarkable images are made using an old technique called ?painting with light,? in which the camera shutter is left open for extended periods in complete darkness and flashlights are used to make the exposures. Through close collaborations, the photographers create striking images imbued with a charged and bristling energy, distinct from the ordinary.  Various tactile and audio cues are often employed in the creative process; sometimes an assistant will verbally describe the surroundings for those with the most limited vision, helping to orient their cameras.

SHOOTING BLIND offers us entry into another world ? a reality that is at once mysterious, evocative, and beautiful, arousing a blend of memories and emotion.  These unique photographs represent the collective?s response to the world, creating novel translations at times both ironic and extravagant.  The technique of painting with light incorporates the clash and contrast of softness and sharpness, streaks and radiant distortions, detail and obfuscation - all symbolic of the group?s shared visual loss.  They use their cameras to explore the world and to understand themselves better, while generating luminous works of art.  Aperture, a not-for-profit organization devoted to photography and the visual arts, has organized this traveling exhibition and produced the accompanying publications.

Arts for All Gallery will host a public reception on Thursday, October 7th, 2004, from 5 ? 8 p.m.  Admission to the gallery and the reception is free, and complimentary refreshments will be provided.  The closing reception will take place on Thursday, November 4th , from 5 ? 8 p.m.; both evenings are part of Turner?s First Thursday downtown Atlanta artswalk.  Live audio description for patrons with visual impairments will be provided at both receptipns.

Arts for All Gallery, a program of VSA arts of Georgia, is open to the public Monday?Friday, 9 a.m. ? 5 p.m., and admission is always free.  There is an ADA-accessible entrance, and Braille exhibition pamphlets and audio description are also provided.  For further information, call:

Jaehn (?Jane?) Clare / Director of Artistic Development, 404.221.1270,  ext. 202.