For many, becoming blind embodies a life-changing trauma but for Terry, he continues to paint, write short stories and play guitar all in his crowded small apartment with his long-time partner Pamela. Terry’s home is a treasure trove, a collection of unseen and fascinating paintings, drawings, and notebooks, not to mention Terry himself, a character worthy of his own TV show. Over five years, this film captures the raw and everyday of Terry’s life, during which he turns out to be mischievous, funny, utterly resilient and fiercely protective of his cigarette breaks.
Trailer:
Full film:
A version with audio description is available on request.
More about Terry:
About Terry
Painting without Sight
A Touch of Colour
Research Context
Whether in art, literature or media, blind people have been consistently represented as either unfortunate, disabled and deprived (figure 1), or as exotic, mysterious and in touch with the supernatural (figures 2 and 3). This depiction of the blind person as the “abnormal other” is the symptom and, at the same time, partial cause for prejudicial attitudes and practices held by non-blind, and especially non-disabled, people.
Figure 1: The Blind Leading the Blind (painted in 1568 by Pieter Brueghel the Elder)
Figure 2: Master Po in Kung Fu (1972-1975)
Figure 3: Notes on Blindness (2016)
Public Engagement and Publications Related to the Project
Dr. Catalin Brylla on Documentary and Disability – Community podcast for RIIVE – Darren Gormley and Catalin Brylla discuss the curious relationship between documentary and disability
Breaking Blind Stereotypes in Life & in Media – RNIB Connect Radio podcast series on disability stereotypes and social stigma – recommended by the Radio Times. Pilot ¦ Episode 1 ¦ Episode 2 ¦ Episode 3
A Social Cognition Approach to Stereotyping in Documentary (2018)
Bypassing the Supercrip Trope in Documentary Representations of Blind Visual Artists (2018)
Documentary and Disability (2017)
Spectatorship and Alternative Portrayals of Blindness (2017)