New gear, not a camera?

Today we begin a new chapter in the story of Landscapes of the Body. We started the project ten years ago, and always had dreams of creating a body of photographic work that not only illustrated the way I see the world, but also served as a vehicle for inclusivity, and celebration of diversity in age, gender, race and physical ability. From the outset, we envisioned a collection of images that could act as an educational platform for other photographers and artists for the importance of diversity and accessibility. 

Over the coming year, we will be working with The Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Art, and Redline Contemporary Art Center of Denver to make this dream a reality. Our plan is to assemble the assets and learn the necessity skills to create tactile versions of our photographs that can be enjoyed by those who are blind or visually impaired. The tactile versions of the traditional prints will also be accompanied by full audio descriptions for each piece. 

This blog is and will remain a photography blog. I do plan to share this 3d printing journey, and I hope you will keep checking back to read about my progress with this new skill. 

We begin this new adventure with the arrival of our new “baby” the X1C 3d printer form Bambu Labs. I’m a digital artist, so, creating physical representations of photographs is something that is all new to me (other than printing the photos). I’m jumping in with both feet and will be learning every aspect of the creative process for 3d printing. This will undoubtably include, the physical upkeep of the 3d printer, experimenting with filaments and other printing materials, and of course learning the software environment to create the prints. As someone who is visually impaired, I am equally excited and terrified at the prospect of this process. I fully expect to encounter many roadblocks and hurdles related to my sight, and I see the forthcoming challenges as something to be overcome, just like everything else in the art world. 

It should be noted that Bambu Labs is not sponsoring, nor are they providing any materials or technical support for this new adventure. Anyone who is a regular reader of my musings here knows that I am a big advocate for learning new skills, and perhaps more importantly sharing skills with others. If you are a 3d printing aficionado, I’d love to hear from you, what challenges can I expect to encounter while learning this new skillset? 

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to chronicling new progress here.

About the author

Ted Tahquechi is a Denver Colorado based professional landscape and travel photographer, disability travel influencer and is almost completely blind. You can see more of Ted’s photography at:  http://www.tahquechi.com/ 

Ted operates Blind Travels, a travel blog designed specifically to empower blind and visually impaired travelers. https://www.blindtravels.com/

Ted’s body-positive Landscapes of the Body project has been shown all over the world, learn more about this intriguing collection of photographic work at: https://www.bodyscapes.photography/

Questions or comments? Feel free to email Ted at: nedskee@tahquechi.com