<p>Richa Maheshwari,a 26-year-old fashion photographer highlighted the problems faced by blind kids through 2016 calendar launch, as part of ‘Silencing the Dark’ campaign. <br /><br />The campaign is dedicated to National Association for the Blind (NAB), an initiative towards blindness awareness to convince people for pledging to donate eyes.<br /><br />‘Silencing the Dark’, was an artistic capture of how a blind person sees the world and what difference one can make in their (the blind) lives to make it better. The campaign ended with a fashion show featuring blind kids along with the models walking down the ramp. <br /><br />“One may think how can a fashion show be related to a social cause, but it is my field. And through this, I have appropriated fashion with many causes like, for the welfare of animals, persons with disabilities, orphans and destitute. I can communicate the best in this medium,” says Maheshwari.<br /><br />According to her, some blindness is incurable and some blindness is completely avoidable and hence eye donation is not the only solution. <br /><br />“I also wanted the children to feel special for at least a day. Walking down a ramp and how it is done is visualised by each one of us, but they can’t. It’s a new experience for them,” she tells Metrolife.<br /><br />There are various themes explored in the calendar, such as ‘silencing’ the trafficking of blind people, visualising how a blind experiences the world only on feelings, how new technology can help crucial cases of blindness and one such for each month of the year.<br /><br />Maheshwari has been doing calendars since last three years. As per her studio’s yearly ritual to undertake a social cause with an intention to bring about some change, she thought of doing a campaign on blindness awareness. They partnered with NAB that is working in educating and employing the blind. <br /><br />She elucidates that during the calendar shoot she interacted with many visually impaired people.</p>.<p> “One thing that baffled me was when a girl told me that ‘we can work anytime, as we don’t possess the idea of day and night’. There are many such moving conversations I had with the blind school children. It is overwhelming to see that they are happy and not apologetic at all at their condition.”<br /></p>
<p>Richa Maheshwari,a 26-year-old fashion photographer highlighted the problems faced by blind kids through 2016 calendar launch, as part of ‘Silencing the Dark’ campaign. <br /><br />The campaign is dedicated to National Association for the Blind (NAB), an initiative towards blindness awareness to convince people for pledging to donate eyes.<br /><br />‘Silencing the Dark’, was an artistic capture of how a blind person sees the world and what difference one can make in their (the blind) lives to make it better. The campaign ended with a fashion show featuring blind kids along with the models walking down the ramp. <br /><br />“One may think how can a fashion show be related to a social cause, but it is my field. And through this, I have appropriated fashion with many causes like, for the welfare of animals, persons with disabilities, orphans and destitute. I can communicate the best in this medium,” says Maheshwari.<br /><br />According to her, some blindness is incurable and some blindness is completely avoidable and hence eye donation is not the only solution. <br /><br />“I also wanted the children to feel special for at least a day. Walking down a ramp and how it is done is visualised by each one of us, but they can’t. It’s a new experience for them,” she tells Metrolife.<br /><br />There are various themes explored in the calendar, such as ‘silencing’ the trafficking of blind people, visualising how a blind experiences the world only on feelings, how new technology can help crucial cases of blindness and one such for each month of the year.<br /><br />Maheshwari has been doing calendars since last three years. As per her studio’s yearly ritual to undertake a social cause with an intention to bring about some change, she thought of doing a campaign on blindness awareness. They partnered with NAB that is working in educating and employing the blind. <br /><br />She elucidates that during the calendar shoot she interacted with many visually impaired people.</p>.<p> “One thing that baffled me was when a girl told me that ‘we can work anytime, as we don’t possess the idea of day and night’. There are many such moving conversations I had with the blind school children. It is overwhelming to see that they are happy and not apologetic at all at their condition.”<br /></p>
