Clive has a creative project that he'd like your help with. Since losing his vision, he has been disconnected with his work and his passion of photography. He had, understandably, either refused to talk about photography or become very upset at its mention but has become inspired and enthused by our project to have one of his own photographs printed up as a tactile image. Our good friend Stuart had coincidently forwarded an article to Clive about Juan Torre, a Spanish photographer who lost almost all his vision to an illness, who along with a specialist printer in Spain, has developed a technique that creates tactile images, so that someone who is visually impaired can see by feeling. If you watch this short video on the BBC website you will better understand; it's fabulous and lasts just four and a half minutes.
When Clive was diagnosed Stuart was keen to find some way that Clive could continue to be creative and thought that it would be fantastic if Juan could print one of Clive's images. So he got in touch with Juan Torre. This type of printing is cutting edge, there is nothing like it currently in the UK, so we had to turn to Juan Torre himself to get this printing done in Spain. Juan has agreed to help and has been tremendously supportive. Marcus, an ex-student and now good friend and colleague at work, knows his way around Clive's archive of negatives and has identified an image that will suit this process. The photo is of a local boxer, Dave Howe, whom Clive has been working with for some time and, typically for Clive, has become a close friend.
The image is now in Spain, the press is ready to roll but this developing technology does not come cheap. The cost for one image, 95 x 65 cm, printed, then couriered to Sheffield from Spain in a wooden crate, will be £2600. We hope that, if all the people that know and care for Clive can chip in a little bit, we'll have no problem raising this amount.
There is no time to lose as the process will take one month from the time that they receive full payment. To get the ball rolling, would you please contact our friend Stuart on stuart [at] mail22.net (replacing the 'at' with @) and let him know how much you would be willing to pledge. In the meantime, we will add a PayPal donate button to this page and be able to provide you with a bank account to transfer money to. Keep an eye here for updates as the site develops.
There is only one such image in the country at the moment: Juan came over to London in January and left an example with the RNIB. With Juan's blessing and the help of the RNIB, this is being delivered to Clive this week so, when you next visit Clive, he will be able to show and explain to you what we are aiming for. The print of Dave Howe will then be the first tactile photo using this technique in the UK. Clive is not, therefore, just a passive recipient of a gift from friends but is working as a creative artist in an innovative way to make photography accessible to the visually impaired.
Any questions, suggestions or offers to donate, please contact Stuart
directly. stuart [at] mail22.net (replacing 'at' with @) or phone 0033 296 274 465
Love Wendy and Clive xx
