Yagazie Emezi and Lucy Edwards hugging

WORLD UNSEEN - EPISODE THREE

SEEING PAST OUR SCARS

Content creator Lucy Edwards experiences Yagazi Emezie’s powerful study of body image.

6 min
•
Introduction
Photography shouldn’t just be for those who can see it. Just ask blind content creator and activist Lucy Edwards, who lost her sight at the age of 17. With the help of photojournalist Yagazie Emezi, whose work explores how we re-learn our changed bodies after trauma or scarring, Lucy experiences photography in an entirely different way. Watch it here.
Lucy Edwards’ Guide Dog Miss Molly
Watch episode three of World Unseen with photojournalist Yagazie Emezi and Lucy Edwards

In the film, Yagazie’s photograph “The Process of Re-learning Bodies” is displayed on the wall. It shows a woman, turned away from us, with a large scar across her back.

Using Canon PRISMAelevate XL software and Arizona printer series, Yagazie’s photograph becomes a revolutionary tactile experience, helping Lucy, accompanied by her adorable guide dog Molly, to feel the picture through touch.

Lucy, whose motto is ‘blind not broken’, lost her eyesight in her right eye at the age of 11, and in her left eye by the age of 17.

As a child, Yagazie was in a traffic accident, and dealing with the resulting scar has inspired her photography, which explores how women ‘re-learn’ their bodies after life-changing events.

Here, Lucy uses her fingertips to conjure the image in her mind, by reading Yagazie’s in-depth description, printed in braille.

Yagazie’s work is also printed in relief, so Lucy is able to touch and feel the key features of the image.

Yagazie Emezi photograph The Process of Re-learning Bodies

Yagazie Emezi photograph The Process of Re-learning Bodies

Lucy Edwards

I may have lost my eyesight, but I didn’t lose my vision.”

Lucy Edwards smiling

Lucy Edwards

UK-based blind broadcaster and content creator Lucy Edwards's motto is that she is 'blind not broken'. She has presented stories all over the world and works with the biggest brands to improve the experience of visually impaired people through universal design.

Yagazie Emezi

Yagazie Emezi is a Nigerian photojournalist who trains her lens on stories surrounding African women and their health, sexuality, education, and human rights. Having worked extensively across Africa, Yagazie also covers stories on identity and culture, social justice, climate change and migration.

Yagazie Emezi smiling
Canon Arizona printer
Canon Arizona printer
Close up of Yagazie Emezi photograph The Process of Re-learning Bodies
BEHIND THE PRINT
To make the experience possible, we printed Yagazie Emezi’s powerful image using Canon PRISMAelevate XL software and Arizona printer series.

BEHIND THE PRINT

To make the experience possible, we printed Yagazie Emezi’s powerful image using Canon PRISMAelevate XL software and Arizona printer series.

Discover more about these innovative products below:

Elevated printing

Elevated printing

Discover how Canon is pioneering new possibilities in printing with Arizona flatbed printers and PRISMAelevate XL software for textured print applications.
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PRISMAELEVATE XL

An easy to-use software application that enables Large Format Graphics designers and Print Service Providers (PSPs) to create tactile print applications and produce outstanding-quality elevated prints up to 2 mm.
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ARIZONA FLATBED FAMILY

Our productive UV flatbed range delivering high-quality output on rigid and flexible media Explore all our Arizona flatbed printers.
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CANON CAMERAS

From chic and portable instant cameras and compact cameras offering lightweight, fixed lens flexibility to DSLRs and mirrorless cameras with state-of-the-art features, Canon’s range of cameras offers everyone a route to creativity.
Close up of Lucy Edwards feeling the relief print

All episodes

3 Films

  • Karen Trippass laughing with Bill Smith

    Into the light

    A visually impaired mother-to-be experiences her baby scan for the very first time.

  • Close up of a hand feeling the relief print

    See no limits

    A Winter Paralympic gold medallist skier feels the power of stunning sports photography

  • Three men dressed in camouflage and holding rifles stand guard around a huge white rhino. One kneels with his arm gently around the rhino’s leg.

    ‘Rhino Wars’ by Brent Stirton

    A blind conservationist experiences an iconic photograph of the last male northern white rhino

Explore the World Unseen collection