Artists Talk with blind photographer Kristan Emerson

Legally blind with only 3 per cent vision in one eye, the idea of blind photography was strange even to him, who primarily started taking photos to help with his gardening.

“What the eye can do is quite unreal in the sight it can give, but also be quite bizarre when things go a little wrong,” he said.

“I all started with my love mucking around growing vegies, I would use my mother’s camera to help me read the seed packets.”

Not only did this help Kristan with his horticultural skills, but he soon developed a love for being behind the lens.

“One day my niece and I were out picking strawberries,” he said.

“I snapped a picture of her eating a strawberry, and despite knowing her for five years was the first time I’d seen the expression of her face. After that, the camera became a better friend.”

As a child, he dreamed of being a journalist, but always thought it was impossible.

With the help of his Nikon, he has developed a photojournalistic style of photography and was recently employed as the snapper for Harmony Day in Swan Hill.

“Over the past decade, I’ve travelled through India, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Pakistan with the help of my brother,” he said.

“Having low vision colour and shapes jump out to me, so I go a little overboard with the different lenses I pack.”

At birth, he was diagnosed with cataracts resulting in the removal of the lenses of his eyes

“I kind of like that if I don’t have my lenses, at least I have a few on my back that I can plug in,” he said.

There are two main things Kristan wants people to take away from his work.

“I want to show other people that are visually impaired or have another disability that yes things can be difficult and isolating, but by thinking outside the box you can still do what you want to do,” he said.

“For the people without a disability or impairment, it’s about showing that people with a disability can still do things.”