Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Colour and Colour Blindness - How It Changes Photography and Life



Seeing colours is wonderful, something one tends to take for granted. I still have old black and white photos of holidays. Nowadays my travel photos are different. Photos of colourful flowers are more important.

Story
In a recent speech contest I spoke about my late Uncle Ronnie who was color blind. When he was dying I visited him in Barnet hospital and took him flowers. He was not interested in flowers because he could not see the colors - even the shapes were obscured by his inability to see color.

I saw being color blind as a blight on his life and started to appreciate what a big part color played in my life.

Only when I asked him about his life did I see that being color blind contributed to his focus on his other senses so that he became a BBC orchestra violinist.

What was more remarkable, being color blind prevented him from being a pilot. At the time he was upset. But pilots in the Battle of Britain lived only four years. His life was saved because he was colour blind.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

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