mumbai in january 2015 an ad for soap featuring katrina kaif drew four million hits online the still photographs had been shot by 26yearold bhavesh patel who was born blind he had judged katrinas height by her handshake and followed her movements through her voice and the rustle of fabric over the years bhavesh and his sightless friends mahesh umrania kanchan pamnani and harsh vyas have exhibited their photographs at india habitat center in new delhi and ncpa in mumbai at the kala ghoda festival as well as the indian high commission in the uk two ngos have armed them with a third eye sightsavers in association with beyond sight foundation bsf is training the blind to shoot which is a feat considering that most youngsters have not held a camera before a live demonstration takes place at press club thursday on the first weekend in august we will exhibit pictures of blind people taken by the blind themselves at inorbit mall malad says amal gupta of sightsavers in 2004 bsf founder partho bhowmick was browsing the bookstalls along flora fountain when he came upon a magazine featuring blind lensman evgen bavcar the article triggered a fascination for helping the visually impaired discover photography he says partially sighted people or those who have visual recollection are easier to train than those born blind some of bhaveshs portraits and landscapes are so symmetrical and sharp one cannot tell his handicap despite his enterprise bhavesh has no illusions about turning his hobby into a career not many people would trust a sightless person to archive precious moments like weddings i shoot independently but it helps to have tips on the landscape so i know where to focus my camera for now i indulge my passion with my iphone he says