Sophie Ana Paris: Midterm Portfolio – #2 Tactile Graphics

This is a photo I took over spring break last year when I was on a trip with my friends to Iceland. This is one of my favorite pictures for many reasons. The picture shows a waterfall with the water frozen as it pours down the side of the mountain. The sky above is perfectly clear blue. To top it all off, it just so happened that the moment we came to visit this waterfall there was a rainbow right in front of it. Every time I look at this picture it feels magical to me. I wanted to tackle the challenge of making this picture somehow convey the same happy, bright majestic, feeling that I feel every time I look at the picture in a way that can be experienced through touch.

In my tactile representation of this photo, I chose to use tinfoil to represent the rough, bumpy mountain. For the soft, bright white snow, I first tried to use Elmers glue drizzled on top of the tinfoil to look like the snow. However, when it dried it was clear, and it also didn’t have the same effect I was looking for. Instead, I ended up melting wax on top of the tinfoil for smooth sensation to represent the snow. The snow at the bottom of the picture on the ground is represented by a different type of wax to differentiate between the snow, falling off the side of the cliff and the piles of snow on the ground. The rainbow is represented by pipe cleaners, because of the soft, fluffy warmth that it conveys that reminds me of rainbows. I also chose to not use color in my tactile representation of this photo, so as to emphasize the experience of understanding the photo through touch as opposed to through sight.

What is the theme of the work? What is it you aim to express?

I am aiming to express the beauty of this waterfall in Iceland. I wanted to explore how someone might experience this beautiful view other than visually.  

Which elements of the work are beautifully/wonderfully/perfectly expressed through the modality?

I think the contrast of the soft snow “depicted” by wax and the bumpy, rough mountain “depicted” by tin foil conveys the visual experience of the rough versus soft in a similar way. I also chose to use the fuzzy, almost cloud-like pipe-cleaners used for the rainbow because of the fluffy, majestic feeling it conveys. 

Which elements are lost or inexpressible through the modality of the week?

I think there is definitely a lack of the majestic feeling I get when looking at the picture. I am not sure how I might incorporate something else to make a majestic feeling come accross through touch. 

Who does this project exclude? Who would not be able to interact with this work ? Who is this modality not accessible for?

This project is not accessible to anyone that is not physically in the same space as the piece. Additionally, for people who have motor disabilities or upper limb differences it might not be accessible.  

Now that you’ve identified who is excluded, what is one way you could remix this piece to include another population? (You don’t have to make this part, but think about it and write about it) 

To include other people who are not able to access this piece due to physically not being in the same space, it could be converted to be digital somehow. 

What affordances you gain by rendering an image tactile? 

Interacting with an image through touch completely chances the experience of understanding the image. It prioritizes different aspects of the image based on what is and is not conceivable through touch and what is and is not conceivable through sight.