Magali Delporte
« See well, live well! » This advertising slogan shows how much our society is governed by the visual, excluding from the public sphere all those who ‘see differently’. And yet there are 50 million people in the world who are blind or amblyopic (partially sighted).
My first contact with people of this kind through sport completely shattered the stereotypes. They are intrepid and competitive where they can achieve, as amateurs or as professionals. The usual signs associated with blindness are practically : no guide dogs or white sticks. The condition of the participants is apparent in other ways, : the blindfold covering the footballers’ eyes, the rope linking the runner and his partner, or the sound of the ski guide’s voice. In each context this relationship based trust is unique. In the case of rodeo this relationship is between man and horse!
Whether it is just a hobby or one’s very reason for living, sport liberates the body and the mind. For blind people, who use ‘sound shadows’ to find their way around within a space, it also sharpens the acuteness of their hearing. Sport helps partially-sighted people to use their residual vision as much as possible.
"When a clock stops working, time does not stop. It’s only when you look at the clock that you get the feeling that it has stopped. It’s the same for us. Life goes on - it’s a question of being able to adapt and showing courage.", told me one of the people in this project. This story is my personal tribute to the strength of will of these people; I wanted to depict in action, in effort and in joy in a lively and colourful environment.
