A photographer in Australia went viral for a wonderful gift he gave to a blind bride: a special wedding album that she could ‘see’ with her hands!
A beautiful bride named Steph had actually lost her eyesight shortly before meeting her groom, R*b. She suffers from a medical condition called cone-rod dystrophy, a condition that affects the light sensitive cells of the retina called the cones and rods. The genetic condition leads to blindness.
Just like many little girls, Steph had always dreamed about a fairytale wedding, but after she went blind, the young lady gave up on having one. After all, what’s the point of having her dream wedding when she couldn’t even see any of it?
“It was since Steph was a little girl. She wanted her fairytale wedding. And we were so sad when she said that she didn’t think she could do it,” said Steph’s mom, Linda.
But the groom was a wonderful man. He wanted to give his bride the wedding she would have planned if she could still see. With the help of family and friends, they planned the fairytale wedding.
There’s still one big dilemma: Steph wouldn’t be able to see any of the pictures. Should they still hire a photographer? Well, they decided to hire James Day – and it was certainly one of the best decisions they made!
The photographer saw this is one of the biggest challenges in his career. So, with the help of his team and some good friends, he created something totally awesome: a wedding album that the blind bride could actually ‘see’ with her hands!
After choosing which photos to include in the wedding album, the photographs were placed on a special printer that heats up the image and makes the printed areas pop out. Fabrics and beads were added into the pictures, transforming the album into magical book.
Audio snippets and small bottle of scents from the wedding were also added into the special album, allowing the bride to fully re-live the moments during the wedding.
“Unbelievable… You guys all have gone through so much trouble to make sure that this has been such an inclusive wedding. And this means so much,” Steph exclaimed as she touched the photos.
How do you photograph a wedding where the bride has absolutely no eyesight?For 12 months I pondered this idea. What can I do that will help take them back to one of the most incredible moments of their life?I played through the day in my mind 1000 times. I thought of all the moments where I could potentially r*b Steph of having a real moment because of a photo needing to be taken.I stripped back what I did to the core. I reminded myself that ultimately, it's my job to remind people of the love that exists in their life, sometimes that happens by handing someone a photograph and sometimes it happens in another way entirely.I spoke to my friend Jesh from Superfeel who’s help I enlisted to refine the idea I had. Superfeel’s purpose is about helping people experience more joy. You should check them out. I could go on, but this short video explains what we did for her better than any of my words ever could.A massive thank you to Lemon Tree Film House for documenting the entire process, Vision Art – Fine Art Books for creating something incredibly unique and to Vision Australia for helping me turn my images into something that Steph could enjoy.Thank you to Sony Australia for having my back. Your support made this all possible. Most importantly, thank you to Steph & R*b, for letting us tell your story. It's a story that the whole world needs to hear.I asked Steph on her wedding day, "Steph, what's something that you wish Sighted people could learn from what you've seen since you can no longer see.Steph replied, "I wish sighted people could learn to be more appreciative for what they've got. I think so many people take things for granted, like sight for instance. Even though I don't have sight, I'm not breakable, I'm not made of glass and that you can overcome any adversity."