Imraan Gallo (35) was diagnosed with Open angle Glaucoma at the age of 15. At the age of 24 picked up a camera due to the fact that he could no longer serve in the engineering industry as a hands on individual. Thus followed the career path in engineering design. Fast forward a few years and Imraan found himself being deemed legally blind as a result of the illness reaching a critical point and surgery was the only option to slow down the deterioration of the optic nerve tissue.

Imraans’ love to the photographic medium is not one of just taking photos for the fun of it or a hobby. There is alot of emphasis on improving and refining his own techniques and coping mechanisms that allow him to still maintain some control of the process while dealing with the fact that he only has about 15-20% of eyesight remaining however, the illness of Glaucoma can only be treated to minimise the damage as Glaucoma is an incurable illness.

After having to make a life altering decision of whether to continue in engineering or save the little that’s left in terms of eyesight, Imraan retired from his career as a designer in mechanical engineering.

Alot of careful thought and planning was done during the recovery time of his operations. The idea to turn his hbby of photography into a stream of income was the only option regardless of the visual challenges that would be faced.

As a student of design, art is a form of expression. The reason for printing on the medium of metal is a tip of the hat to his previous career. Having worked in the sheet metal industry. What better way for an engineering designer to display his rendition of Automotive artwork by printing it on the material that he understands and is deeply rooted in the field of
engineering.

Most people would want to ask how it’s possible for someone who is blind/visually impaired to practice photography. That answer isn’t something that can be easily answered as Imraan only picked up a camera after being dianosed with Glaucoma. Naturally he does not know what it’s like to do photography with good eyesight. A sighted person cannot teach visually impaired people an artform that is visually demanding. The inspiration for his work comes from classic artists such as Da vinci, Caravaggio and Rembrandt.