John Dugdale

 John Dugdale is an American art photographer best known for his cyanotypes and platinum prints. John was born in Connecticut and by the age of 33 he was blind through a stroke and an HIV related illness called CMV retinitis, and was only able to have 20% of his vision. With this unfortunate outcome, Dugdale found that his career in commercial photography had ended but that opened up doors for him to tap into history and use techniques of fine art from the 19th century. Dugdale has since used large formatted cameras to produce cyanotypes and platinum prints through the use of the albumen process. With the use of these processes and with the assistance of family and friends, Dugdale was able to produce images that are well known and famous in the art world. 

With his exploration of fine arts photography form the 19th century, Dugdale has been featured in multiple exhibitions all around that are solos and group enhibitions. Some locations include the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, the Miami Art Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Whitney Museum, and even the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Dugdale has said that his images produced came from memories he's once had which then gives another meaning of what it actually means to "see". A famous quote from him is "The mind is the essence of your sight. It's really the mind that sees". This goes to show that with photography, you're not necessarily seeing through your eyes or the lens of a camera, you can see through what you have exerienced, through the memories formed, and from the life lived. 

Dugdale's images speaks to this notion that your eyes are merely just a function and to see and to produce requires more than just the eyes. Images can be produced using chemicals or it can be produced using light. Dugdale has done an amazing job in creating photography using 19th century techniques, refining it, and all while being blind.