A blind artist and his photographs

Renowned blues pianist Henry Butler imagined a human knee as he put his hands against the knots of a tree limb in New Orleans? Audubon Park. Intrigued by the image he could visualise but could not see, the blind musician stepped back, pulled out the camera he?s been carrying around for years, and snapped a photograph. A blind man as photo artist? Now there?s a novel concept, but not one to be dismissed out of hand.

Renowned blues pianist Henry Butler imagined a human knee as he put his hands against the knots of a tree limb in New Orleans’ Audubon Park. Intrigued by the image he could visualise but could not see, the blind musician stepped back, pulled out the camera he’s been carrying around for years, and snapped a photograph.

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A blind man as photo artist? Now there’s a novel concept, but not one to be dismissed out of hand.

“It’s amazing to me how he does what he does,” says Jonathan Ferrara, whose downtown New Orleans gallery showcases an array of paintings and photographs. “It’s very intuitive and there’s almost a surreal quality to it, I mean, a blind photographer?”

Nearly three dozen Butler photos made up an exhibit at Ferrara’s gallery earlier this month called ‘How Eye See It.’ “It defies reason that these photos would be good, but they are because there is a thought-out composition,” Ferrara says.

Butler has displayed his photos around the US, usually at music events. However, his works have not previously been in a commercial gallery and rarely have they been critically reviewed. Professional photographers are mixed about Butler’s work, saying that while some shots are ridiculous, others are “actually pretty good.”