Blind
Images of animals are all around us. Yet the visibility offered by wildlife photography can't help but contribute to an image of the animal as fundamentally separate from the human. But how can we get closer to animals without making them aware of us or changing their relationship to their environment?
The Blind might be the answer. Developed for naturalists by the Institute of Critical Zoologists, the Blind is a camouflage cloak that works on the principle that an object vanishes from sight if light rays striking it are not reflected, but are instead forced to flow around as if it were not there. In fifty stunning colour photographs, this volume shows the cloak tested in nature reserves, grasslands and urban environments. By taking the human out of the picture, The Blind offers an opportunity to explore how we see animals in photography.
Alfredo Cramerotti is a writer, curator and editor working across TV, radio, publishing, writing and exhibition making. He co-curated Manifesta 8, the European Biennial of Contemporary Art, 2010, the Maldives Pavilion and the Wales Pavilion at the 55th Venice Art Biennial, 2013, and the 4th Trienala Ladina in South Tyrol in 2013. He directs MOSTYN, Wales’ leading contemporary art institution, and the itinerant projects AGM Culture and Chamber of Public Secrets (CPS). He is Research Scholar at the European Centre for Photography Research, University of Wales, Newport, and Editor of the Critical Photography series by Intellect Books. His own publications include the book Aesthetic Journalism: How to Inform without Informing (2009) and Unmapping the City: Perspectives of Flatness (2010).