Incredible woman: Story of Nigeria’s first blind photographer

After the tripod was set, the
photographer checked the angles to ensure the ‘balance’ was good. She
then felt the buttons on the camera. Then, she looked into the lens.
Camera. Ready. Action!

You may consider this the ordinary
routine of a photographer. Yes it is. But, what makes it extraordinary
is that Taiwo Lawal, the photographer, is totally blind.

Lawal, 35, felt her way round the tripod
to our correspondent and explained with a smile, “At the start, I kept
wondering how a blind person could learn photography. I thought it was
impossible. But the person who introduced me to it said it was possible.
So, I agreed to do it.”

She gave her consent to learn the art of photography two years ago. Now, Lawal takes photographs like someone that is not blind.

She continued: “I’ve learnt a lot about the lens of a camera, the view finder, LCD screen and so many parts of the camera.”

Medical science has stated that blind people tend to show enhanced ability in the other senses. This probably applies to Lawal.

Giving an insight into how she is
mastering the art of photography, Lawal said she uses her sense of
hearing and touch to take pictures.

She said, “If I want to take a picture, I
would go to where the person is, and feel his location; then I would
communicate with the person to sense the direction, as the sound of the
person tells me where he or she is.

“Also, if I want to take pictures of
nature, I first feel the object by touching it, then move back and take
the picture. When I touch a flower, for instance, I see the colours in
my mind. I can also tell if someone is happy or sad, because I know it
would be reflected in the picture.”

Lawal put her skill to use as she took many shots of our correspondent and the surroundings.

“Some time ago in Ikeja, someone
expressed doubt on the ability of a blind person to take photographs.
Immediately, I took my camera and demonstrated to him,”she said,
laughing.

But does she have an idea of the outcome of the shots she takes?

Lawal, answered, “Whenever I take pictures, I know it would be beautiful, because I see them in my mind.”

Before photography found her, Lawal had
learnt some few trades which included: bead-making and bag-making. These
took her four years.

Her photography has, however, been taking
her places. Recently, she won an award at the International Day of
Persons Living with Disabilites, which held in Port Harcourt, Rivers
State.

“Lawal is the first blind photographer
I’ve ever heard of. She’s an inspiration,” said Mrs. Bitebo Gogo,
Executive Director, Keeping It Real Foundation, which organised the
event.

Also, last year, Lawal met American Joe McNally, a globally renowned photographer at a photography exhibition.

“When we discussed, he encouraged me to
continue with my work. I was happy meeting him, because I never thought I
would ever meet such important people. Now, I no longer feel bad
because I do not see. If I were not blind, maybe I wouldn’t have gotten
to where I am today,” Lawal said, adding that she wants to pursue a
career in photography.

“Taking pictures makes me happy. Also, it
has helped me forget my past sorrows, when some people didn’t
appreciate me and I endured a lot of insults,” she said.

Difficult past

Things had not always been this good for
Lawal. Lawal and her twin sister were born blind. And surviving had been
a major challenge.

Her mother got pregnant after she was
raped by a man in a village in Ondo State. When the man later found out
that the twins were born blind, he absconded.

Taiwo told SUNDAY PUNCH she didn’t know him or where he was, she only knew the circumstances of her birth.

She said, “I am no longer angry with him. I used to be angry before because he never accepted us as his children.”

Growing up in the village was also harrowing for Lawal. She said she had no clothes and was fed with food that had gone bad.

She said, “We had no clothes to wear,
only panties. People treated us badly, and sometimes, they threw stones
at us. We were fed five-day-old food. We didn’t have any choice then but
to eat it. Now, I can laugh about it because it’s in the past.”

Lawal has also endured ridicule in public places.

This includes falling into a ditch and people walking past her, despite knowing she was blind.

For Emmanuel Effiong-Bright, who
discovered Lawal in Oshodi, Lagos, after accepting her request to lead
her to the bus park, she is not only an inspiration, she has shown
courage in the face of adversity.

“She could have gone begging like others
but she overcame all that. Our journey took 25 minutes instead of five
minutes. But, it has been one of the best 25 minutes of the last 25
years of my life. I saw a blind person who spoke like someone who could
see,” Effiong-Bright recollected.

At birth, doctors had given the twins
only six years to live. Her twin sister is now married with two
children. “But I don’t want to marry a blind person,” Lawal said,
laughing.

Today, through the help of people like
Effiong-Bright and her photography instructor, Mr. Seun Akisanmi, Lawal
has hope for a bright future.

Akisanmi, who runs the academy
(Elophotos) where Lawal takes classes thrice weekly, described teaching
her as both challenging and interesting.

He said, “One must be extremely patient.
Training her is like two to three times longer than that of a sighted
person. But I’m also learning from her. I didn’t know how sharp her
other senses were, and she always looks happy. She’s a bright student,
and has learnt a lot. There are some settings we can’t teach her but she
can use auto-mode. She knows enough to do a mini-session for someone,
which is a good start, and she can take good pictures. If I would put
the cost of training so far, it would be about N500,000.”

Effiong-Bright, who said street
photography, was Lawal’s specialty, called on individuals and
organisations to support her so she can fend for herself and her
seven-year-old daughter.

“Every week, we give her allowances, but
we need more support from individuals and corporate bodies. Also,
Lawal’s foster mother, Mrs. Yetunde Adu, has done so much for her and in
taking care of her daughter. With more financial support, more can be
done for her,” he said.

Years ago, Lawal dropped out of the
Pacelli School of the Blind in Primary Three because of lack of funds.
Now, she said she would like to go back to school, and also pursue a
career in photography.

Although, there are blind photographers
in other developed parts of the world, Lawal is the first in Nigeria and
Africa, noted Effiong-Bright.

One of them is Pete Eckert, a
photographer based in California, US, who started photography only after
going completely blind in 1980, a year after Lawal was born. “I’m a
very visual person. I just can’t see. Sighted photographers always talk
about the difficulty of what they call ‘seeing.’ I tell them ‘If you
can’t see, it’s because your vision is getting in the way,’” said
Eckert, in a feature by TIME.

Care for the disabled

Lawal’s story also brings to light the
challenges faced by people living with disabilities in the country, said
Executive Director, Persons with Disabilities Action Network, Betram
Ubaka.

Ubaka, who is also a polio survivor,
noted that with the right social infrastructure, people living with
disabilities can have a better life, as well as discover and harness
their potential, just like Lawal.

“They deserve to have good living like
every other Nigerian. Unfortunately, we have a system and leadership in
the country that is very unserious about the development or care for
persons living with disabilities. More than 95 per cent of the 25.5
million Nigerians with disabilities in Nigeria are living in the rural
areas,” he said.

Ubaka also pointed out that Nigeria has
not done enough in meeting the United Nations Convention on the Rights
of Persons with Disabilities, which among other things, states that
“everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth therein,
without distinction of any kind.”

Speaking further, Ubaka said society
should embrace people with disabilities and respect their human rights.
He said, “There is no pro-active response by the society to accommodate
their social needs, such as good education and health-care facilities,
even the road networks and public places don’t have structures to
accommodate them. There needs to be more care for such persons, and more
awareness that living with disability is not inability.”