There is no stopping a passionate person irrespective of whether they have a disability or not.

Brenden Borrellini was born with complete deafness and a sight impairment that gradually got worse, and developed into complete blindness by the age of 7. Growing up for him was frustrating, and he depended a lot on his family and teachers which slowly helped him understand the world around him. Thanks to his zeal to learn and inquisitiveness, he learned finger spelling and other skills to improve his communication.

One day he picked up a camera and started clicking pictures. Initially it was all a joke about a blind person taking photos, but soon enough, with assistance from others, his curiosity towards the camera and photography became a full fledged hobby. To make things easier for him, he is explained objectives in detail as to what photos he should be taking. He is explained the surroundings in great detail, and then given technical feedback as well after the photos are taken. He can feel the controls on the back of the camera, and he can sense the lens moving when he is focussing, but he still needs some help from the subject to get a good picture.

Clicking photographs is fine, but what does Brenden really see?

This is where creativity plays a great role. Brenden’s two dimensional photos are converted to three dimensional prints so he is able to interpret the various textures and recognize various elements of the image.

Watch this short movie about Brenden to understand the process he goes through to take and “see” photos, and the wonderful support system he has. Creativity and willingness to pursue a hobby knows no bounds, and Brendan’s story is an exemplary example of that.