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It's an almost counterintuitive question: Can the physically disabled become artists? The answer depends, to a certain extent, on how one defines art. As the expression of one's personal interpretation of the world around him, art can be created by just about anyone. And, after all, if Beethoven could produce musical masterpieces without hearing them, surely the visually impaired staff of Beijing One Plus One Cultural Exchange Center can become photographers.
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有身体缺陷的人能够成为艺术家么？这是个几乎违反直觉的问题，它没有绝对的答案，一定程度上取决于一个人如何给艺术下定义。作为一种人们对周围世界的主观表达，艺术可以被任何一个人创作。毕竟，如果贝多芬能够在失聪的情况下创作出经典音乐，那么北京一加一文化交流中心的视障人士同样可以成为摄影家。
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And so they did. One Plus One, an organization run by people with disabilities that aims to provide media outlets and support for the disabled, teamed up in May with the international group PhotoVoice to train eight of its staff to use photography as a way to communicate their experiences of the world around them. After a week's worth of workshops, during which they learned photography techniques and partook of trust-building activities, participants were unleashed into Beijing – sometimes with a partner and other times alone – to record moments in their lives. The result: Sights Unseen, an exhibit of 16 photos that record everything from lighthearted, everyday debaucheries to windows into more intimate secrets.
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他们的确做到了。一加一是一家由残障人士成立的组织，旨在为残疾人提供信息平台和支持。今年五月，一加一与国际组织图片之声合作对其八名员工进行了培训，使他们能够运用摄影技术表达对周围世界的体验。在一周的培训中，他们学习了摄影技术，参与了建立彼此信任的活动。培训结束后，学员们或一起或独自走出去进行独立拍摄，纪录生活中的瞬间。最后他们举办了一个名为“看不见的视界”的摄影展，展出的16幅照片记录了他们每天的快乐、放纵以及内心的秘密。
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"We think this project is a very good way to communicate between blind people and normal people," said Sun He, One Plus One's marketing and public events coordinator. "We hope this project will influence more people in China, and also help the visually impaired build more confidence and communicate with outsiders more."
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“我们觉得这个项目为盲人和正常人之间的沟通建立了桥梁。”一加一的市场和公共事务协调员孙和（音）说，“我们希望这个项目能够在中国影响更多的人，同时帮助视障人士建立信心，让他们更好地与外界沟通。”
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In one of the workshops, staff members discussed the things they wanted to show people about their lives. They also learned how to express their feelings and the visions in their minds. Only two are completely blind, but the workshops trained all of them to rely only on their other senses to take pictures. Sun Zhiyuan, the editor and host of One Plus One's Internet radio program and one of the first two trainees in the program, said he would close his eyes, feel for the location and distance of his subject, and snap the picture while holding the camera to his forehead. For more distant subjects that were out of reach, a partner would snap his fingers to guide Sun in the right direction.
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在一次培训课上，学员讨论了他们希望向人们展现的生活，学习如何表达自己的情感和想象中的视界。尽管有两名学员完全失去了视力，但是通过培训，所有学员都可以凭借视觉之外的感觉去拍摄照片。孙致远是一加一网络电台的编辑和主持人，同时也是该项目的最早两个学员之一。 他说，拍摄时他会闭上眼睛，感觉拍摄对象的位置和距离，然后把照相机举在前额，按下快门。对于较远而无法感知的对象，同伴会打响指，把孙引到正确的方向。
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"We all had to put a cover over the screen" of their cameras, Sun said. "Because even us with low vision like to look and see, 'How is it?'"
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“我们得在照相机的屏幕上放置一个遮挡，避免自己去看。”孙说。“即使我们视力很弱，也还是免不了想看。这个主意怎么样？”
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After they had taken their pictures, two professional photographers were on hand to offer advice on which shots were better from an artistic viewpoint. But technical merit took a backseat to what the trainees wanted to capture.
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照片拍摄好之后，有两名专业摄影师从艺术角度对照片提出建议。拍摄技巧对于他们的照片来说是次要的。
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