Latest / The Blind Chick / Legally Blind, Historically Iconic, and Somehow Still Better at Photos Than Us
Transcript
- Penn Street (00:00) Hello everybody and welcome back to the blind chick. That's Moses Street. Moses Street (00:05) And that is Penn Street, the brain Chick Penn Street (00:07) Bye. And this episode is going to be phenomenal because this is our second time doing it in a row. Because I forgot to push record last time. So this is take two. Moses Street (00:21) Yeah. I know, and I'm ticked off, I'm ticked off because it's my job. I'm the old guy. It is my job to forget to do something, not hers. She's taken my job away. ⁓ Penn Street (00:44) I know. Oh my goodness. I couldn't believe that. I went to hit stop and it still said record and I was like, oh, I forgot to hit record. But that's okay. That is okay. You got to roll with the punches. Moses Street (00:49) Ha Yeah, it was so funny. Yeah. Cause we're gonna be on it. We're gonna be tight. We're gonna be good. And I found my prop. We're on, we're on YouTube. I can't believe it. We're on YouTube. Yeah. I know I went, I went viral on TikTok with a really crazy, stupid post that I had done. And both of us have done good on the other Instagram and Penn Street (01:08) Okay. We are on YouTube. We are on YouTube. We, ⁓ Moses Street (01:30) Facebook and so now we are going to conquer Penn Street (01:33) you All right. Because I don't think we've said it. Hello, everybody, and welcome back to the blind chick. That's Moses Street. Moses Street (01:44) yeah, welcome. ⁓ And that's Penn Street. We are doing this twice, woman. ⁓ Penn Street (01:49) Ha ha ha ha I think we're delirious. I don't know what. I know what. I promise I'm just drinking water. ⁓ But we are feeling good. Like Moses said, we are on YouTube. I was a little hesitant when our podcast director, ⁓ manager, I don't know what his real title is. He's the magician behind the curtain. Moses Street (02:03) Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Yeah, Penn Street (02:24) He told us he wanted. ⁓ Moses Street (02:24) he's the guy that sleeps in the control room. Penn Street (02:28) No, but he wanted us to move to YouTube, add that to our platforms. And I was like, I'm not a visual person. I don't really care. yeah, you guys are loving it. ⁓ The numbers are blowing up. We're getting more and more comments on YouTube than ever before ⁓ on the other platforms. Moses actually has, because we did promise if you guys make comments, we will read them. Moses Street (02:42) You Penn Street (02:57) ⁓ Now, if you do just a thumbs up or you do a smiley face, we love that, but I'm probably not going to call you out. Call you out every time. But we do appreciate those. We appreciate the love. But somebody said a beautiful comment and I'm going to have Moses read it as soon as he can find it. It's on your phone. Okay. Moses Street (03:06) Hahaha! Okay, yeah. Yeah, this was really cool. Yeah, because Penn and I, are everything. So here's to quote. This episode hit hard in the best way. The honesty about health, marriage, and legacy was so real. Penn Street (03:26) It really touched our hearts and we appreciate it. Yeah. Moses Street (03:47) and the reminder to make meaningful memories now really stuck with me. Thank you for such a vulnerable and hopeful conversation. And that's ⁓ so nice. Penn Street (04:00) Yeah, is so nice because on here, on the podcast as well as around our dinner table, Moses and I do talk a lot about, don't wait to create a memory. Don't wait to take that trip. Don't wait to take that walk together. Do it now. We don't know if today's the last day or we have a week together. We have 10 years together. It doesn't matter. ⁓ Moses Street (04:29) Yeah. Penn Street (04:30) Do it now. ⁓ Moses Street (04:32) and think about it when you're going out into the workforce and you're in your, well, late teens, early twenties, ⁓ do your bucket list now and keep adding to the bucket list. And the reason is, look at your physical ability and your energy. Now look at your grandfather. Do you think he's going surfing on the north side of Oahu? Penn Street (04:44) Yeah. Exactly. Moses Street (05:00) on those 30 foot waves? No, he's not, but you can. Penn Street (05:03) Maybe there might be some grandpas out there on those waves. Moses Street (05:06) Yeah, I can only handle a three footer anymore. ⁓ I used, I have surfed a 10 foot wave. I've surfed seven foot waves and now anything over two to three feet. I just, yeah, wipe out. Yeah, and I always hear that. ha. Yeah, so let's do the question thing. Penn Street (05:08) Yeah. Yes. Wipe out. Yeah, I think they did a song about that. Yes, yes. So today's question, are you going to do your goofy little thing with the deck of cards? Moses Street (05:35) Wait, why isn't it there? Okay, let me pull it out and Okay, whoa, whoa, and I just dropped everything. Okay now Okay, there it is. Okay, Penn you you read it Penn Street (05:41) There you go. now you dropped it. Well, you'll be picking those up for a while. Okay. So the question this week is, what is your favorite photo that you've ever taken or the favorite photo you have been in? Moses Street (06:06) It ⁓ was a picture, ⁓ many, many, many years ago, I discovered why people photograph badly. And so in researching and researching and calling up people who knew way more than me, one of my experiments was to photograph myself any time I was aware of a... ⁓ a strong feeling like if I like today, the way I'm feeling, I'm on the air feeling good. So I would take a picture because I had discovered your face is there's no problem with your face. What you don't like about your photos is how you're feeling when the camera goes off. And so I was testing that out on me. I was testing it out on other people. And I came up with this one photo and. ⁓ when I saw it, it was such a shock that I threw it across the room. And for those of you who know me or on YouTube, you're hardly going to mistake me for Steven Tyler. ⁓ Dead Ringer, the big lips. Yeah, that picture could not be me. Penn Street (07:19) Did you look like Steven Tyler in the photo? Really? Wow. Moses Street (07:30) And that was the day that I discovered, holy cow, am I really on to something? Because, ⁓ yeah, it's it's how you feel when the camera goes off is is the face you don't like if you hate being photographed. ⁓ Yeah, but that's why. But there's plenty of family photos or like we were joking. Every picture I take of Penn. Penn Street (07:37) Mmm. Wow. Wow. Yeah. Moses Street (08:00) is my favorite. Oh, gosh, I was rehearsing that all morning. Oh, so what's next? Penn Street (08:02) Good answer. Good answer. You don't have to sleep on the couch tonight. Good, good, good. You're supposed to ask me the question. Moses Street (08:21) ⁓ what's your favorite? What's your favorite photo? Penn Street (08:29) One of these days we'll get this down. Moses Street (08:31) Yeah, yeah. Okay. Penn Street (08:33) Um, no, when this question came up, it is hard to pick because you have photographs. Like I just have beautiful, beautiful portraits because of you um, over the past 38 years, I think it's 38. Oh, it's almost 38. Um, I mean, I have a very special photo from when I was little. I'm about two years old and my big brother, Tim is four and we're sitting on the back of a horse. Moses Street (08:50) Yeah, 38 and a half. Penn Street (09:03) And that that parrot that picture is is definitely a favorite. But as an adult, my favorite pitcher, probably that you that you've ever taken to me. But and it's just because it's. Maybe the meaning or the interpretation I put into the photo, but I mean, the the sand dunes, which are down near the New Mexico border, I think. And. Moses Street (09:14) Ha Yes. Penn Street (09:31) I have a, ⁓ it's a black and white and I have on a, a simple white slip, ⁓ white dress, maybe it's a sundress. ⁓ And I'm holding a broken umbrella and Moses tied like rags to it, white rags. And the wind is blowing. I'm, it's kind of like I'm doing this dance and I'm holding this umbrella. up in the wind is catching it. It's very symbolic for me of freedom and stepping into a new life, a new chapter in my life. It's definitely one of my favorites. You used to have a ginormous one of it in the studio and in the gallery. Yeah, it is a really cool picture. Moses Street (10:20) We should do that again. It's a really cool picture. Yeah. But Penn's definitely been my muse ever since we've met. yeah. So, and can we go into the history guy? Penn Street (10:33) Aw. Aw. So, so, have, Moses chose, we wanted to talk about people in history who had vision loss. it lasts, two weeks ago, we were talking about Helen Keller, which is one of my heroes. I can... talk about Helen day in and day out. And so Moses, we thought Moses would have a week where he could talk about one of his heroes. And I didn't know, I mean, I knew about this person, but I didn't not know at all that he had vision loss. And I did a little research on my own and was really fascinated and would learn to more, you know, I'd like to learn more about him, but it's Matthew Brady and I will. I'm you, if you Google Matthew Brady, like a serial killer murder comes up on Wikipedia. Yeah, in England. And I was like, is this the same person? So make sure you put photographer Matthew Brady when you do your search. Moses Street (11:41) Really? ⁓ Ha ha ha! Yeah. Or there are many conspiracy theorists who are sure that the famous Matthew Brady photographer who photographed the Civil War is also a secret serial killer. ⁓ Penn Street (11:56) Okay It could be. It could be. It could be. Yeah, because you guys know here on The Blind Chick, have been interviewing, gosh, three years now, I think. I don't actually know what episode we're on, but we're interviewing people that are still alive and kicking and that are amazing people with vision loss from all over the world. And so we would like to kind of maybe shed some light on those that aren't around anymore. Moses Street (12:32) Yeah, so kind of a lead in, Matthew Brady, everybody knows him as the Civil War photographer. But before the Civil War, if Matthew Brady was the number one, undebatable, best portrait photographer in America in the 1800s, before the Civil War. And if you were, he even photographed John Wilkes Booth ⁓ and ⁓ one of the other Booths. ⁓ Yeah, Shaq Lincoln. Yeah. So it was he was if you were rich, you were famous, you were a celebrity, you had done something newsworthy. Matthew Brady was the guy who photographed you. Penn Street (13:07) The guy that, the guy that murdered, that shot Lincoln. Wow. Moses Street (13:25) period. And he even photographed Abraham Lincoln. And Lincoln said that that photo helped him win the presidential election because up to that time, because photography was really new at that time, up to that time, no president had ever used a photograph ⁓ campaigning. so with Penn Street (13:27) Wow. Moses Street (13:54) his Matthew Brady portrait ⁓ going all over the country in all the newspapers, first time in history, our American history, that everybody knew what Lincoln looked like and they had no idea what the other guys looked like. anyway, going into the Civil War, Matthew Brady being, you don't become the best photographer ever unless you're a good businessman, ⁓ he thought, Penn Street (13:54) ⁓ Moses Street (14:23) I'm going to start a company and photograph the Civil War. And he did that. history, well, clear up when I was going to high school, ⁓ everybody said Matthew Brady photographed the whole Civil War by himself. And then they started going, wait a minute, he could not be at this battlefield. And at another battlefield at the exact same time, because there's photos from both of them, but the two battlefields are 300 miles apart. then ⁓ more research. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but he'd be carrying about 200 pounds of glass plates. Yeah, and a big camera. And. Yeah, he he. Penn Street (15:05) Horses there were horses. I'm just kidding A minimum, So do you have assistance? Okay. Moses Street (15:20) My memory is he had 18 guys that ⁓ went so that they could cover all the different stuff. ⁓ And then the ⁓ historians realized that Matthew Brady ⁓ was legally blind and that he just had these big, thick, ⁓ Coke bottle glasses. And so what he would do is he had ⁓ an assistant who would set the shot up Penn Street (15:24) wow. Moses Street (15:50) set the camera up, set the exposure, put the film in, do everything, and then Brady would come up and take the picture. he basically, because he was not in the greatest health in those days, ⁓ and because he ⁓ needed assistance with sight and everything, ⁓ but he did go to all the major events. So like surrendering at Appomattox. Penn Street (15:58) Wow. Moses Street (16:20) Brady, Civil War, Brady, you know, ⁓ but. Penn Street (16:23) Hmm. Is there, is there any thing in history that talks about why he was losing his vision? Moses Street (16:32) That's what I know of. if somebody out there knows that. Penn Street (16:34) I'm wondering, yeah, anybody out there if you know. ⁓ If you have any historical ties to this story, that would be awesome. Because I know photography back then, the chemicals that were used were really super toxic. So I'm wondering if he got something exposed or something to his eyes. Moses Street (16:45) Yeah. Yes, that's like. That's a good possibility. Yeah, because they used mercury and I forget which I think it was the embryo types, but they used mercury to develop the film and it had to be done in a light proof ⁓ box or thing. And if you got a leak with those mercury fumes, you died. ⁓ Penn Street (17:25) Jeez. Moses Street (17:26) Yeah, rapidly. So a lot of guys died from that. of went crazy from that, just like using mercury on hats. You had the mad hatters. But anyway. Yeah, so the one other thing that everybody thought Brady had done those thousands and thousands and thousands of glass plate photos was everyone, every plate that came in after it was processed. Penn Street (17:36) right. Yeah. So you had mad photographers. Yeah Moses Street (17:55) Brady would scratch his initials on it or have an assistant scratch his initials on it. And so everybody thought, well, the artist signed his work. No. Yeah. Everything went back to Matthew Brady Central wherever his. Yeah. Yeah. Penn Street (17:59) ⁓ ⁓ so that's why they thought he did everything. because his assistants were just assistants and so they didn't get to put their name on it. Wow. Some things never change in art. I do actually. Moses Street (18:21) That's right, Penn takes these great photos and I take total credit. Yeah, this was one of our couples discussions at one point in our life. Penn here, I take these photos and you always take the credit for them. And so I had to start going, yeah. I don't either, because they were way better than what I was doing at the time. ⁓ Penn Street (18:38) I don't care though. I don't care. Yeah. But as I understand it, Matthew Brady, the photographer, not the murderer, ⁓ he was actually very wealthy because the newspapers, the government were buying copies of his pictures and But then after the war, things really changed for him, which was sad. Moses Street (19:13) Yeah, nobody wanted anything to do with the Civil War, let alone memories of the battlefield. ⁓ Penn Street (19:22) Yeah, so he actually died in poverty and actually in debt because nobody wanted them, which is sad. I mean, it's amazing how many that are actually still exists compared to how many that there were. Moses Street (19:40) Yes. Oh, and I'll bet you can Google it if you go and so you want to see Matthew Brady portrait photography. It also takes away the whole myth of the silly guy sitting in a chair with the wife standing next to him with her hand on his shoulder. His portraiture was really, really good. Yeah. Yeah. Penn Street (19:42) Cause he... ⁓ that's yeah, it's sad that he died a recluse, but but yeah, that's I I would be really curious if anybody knows why why he lost his vision. Like that would be really interesting. Moses Street (20:11) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, probably because his mom let him have a BB gun when he was a kid. A red rider. Penn Street (20:27) A red rider. But when Moses, when you were talking about this, this morning about wanting to do the story, it brought back memories. When I first met you, we were in Estes park, Colorado at the historic Stanley hotel. And I remember sitting on the porch and there was a photographer on the lawn taking pictures and you went out and you were talking to him and chatting and I came over and you introduced me to him. And he was, he was elderly. He was a photographer, ⁓ who was, you know, up in years and his son, his adult son was with him and his name was Lou Dakin and really sweet, sweet man. ⁓ always loved hanging out with him, but he was losing a lot of his vision. And, and, and so the Matthew Brady story reminded me of Lou and, and Lou had been at is, I mean, his Moses Street (21:06) Yes. Penn Street (21:24) his photography is amazing and it covers, you know, history, especially of the national parks in a way that nobody else did. but Lou was doing basically that same thing is Lou would like set up the picture, like where the people were standing and everything. And then his son would go in, you know, cause this is back in when you had film. So you had to like set the camera and Moses Street (21:32) Yes. You Penn Street (21:53) all the different knobs and things to correctly, because there wasn't an autofocus. then Denny, his son would do that. And then Lou would take the picture. So it kind of reminded me of Matthew Brady, ⁓ his photos. And to me, it was a Lou Dakin photo, even though Denny made sure that Moses Street (21:55) All yeah. Penn Street (22:15) everything was in focus, it still was a Lou Dakin photo, a Denny. And Denny did go on to have a really good career as a photographer as well. but yeah, and I know for a fact that there's actually quite a few photographers out there. I've met several photographers who have extreme low vision. I don't think I've met somebody who's totally blind as a photographer, but I know there's, met a guy up in Wyoming. Moses Street (22:32) Right. Penn Street (22:45) There's a couple here in Colorado that we've met and it's definitely doable. And Jim Felion, I know you're out there, you're a fan of the podcast and Jim takes great photography shots and his style, and Jim forgive me if I say it wrong, but it's called, I think, intentional blur. Moses Street (22:58) Yeah, hey Jim. Penn Street (23:13) ⁓ which I would like to say that's how I see his intentional blur, but he, ⁓ his, some of his photographs have won awards and things. So you can, you can still do your art even without your eyeballs. So, So, ⁓ if you are watching us on YouTube, please leave us a comment, ask us a question. ⁓ we love, love, love hearing from you. Moses Street (23:28) That's for sure. Penn Street (23:43) And ⁓ all the rest of you, we'd you know, send us a comment at feedback at aftersight.org Thank you all for dropping in, you know, week after week. Moses and I really love that you love what we're doing. So. Moses Street (23:57) Yeah, and we like getting the old school mail with an envelope stamp and a hundred dollar bill in it. So, so feel free. yeah. If you've got, if you are doing something really interesting in your life or you've got a really good story about something you've done. ⁓ Penn Street (24:04) Yes. No, do not send money through the email. Moses Street (24:25) Definitely get in touch with Penn or Jonathan, because we would love to have you on the show. Penn Street (24:35) Yes. And if you know somebody in history that has vision loss that maybe the rest of the world doesn't know that much about, would love to know that as well. And we can do research as well to make a little story about them. Moses Street (24:47) Yeah. I know, because it- I know, because the only other artist I can think of was Beethoven, and he was deaf at the end of his career. anyway, so keep in touch. And all of you guys get out of the house. was I was just listening. In fact, I was just listening to a news story and they have been studying that if Penn Street (25:04) That's right. That's right. But we love, yeah, keep in touch with Yes, get out of the house. Moses Street (25:25) people get out, especially my age group, anybody 60 and older, gets out a lot and socializes, it literally ⁓ dramatically increases age and increases ⁓ the positiveness of old age. But to me, there is a blind renaissance going on. And just in Colorado alone, Penn Street (25:45) Yeah. You Moses Street (25:54) There are over a hundred thousand blind folks or people with low vision and nobody knows that this incredible group, you guys are the most educated people in America. You guys are creating this entrepreneur Renaissance and nobody even friggin knows you exist because you're not outside. Get outside, take a walk. Penn Street (26:04) Yes. Yes. Moses Street (26:21) Get somebody on a tandem mic and go biking or go swimming, go paddle boarding. It's all doable. Get out, get out. Penn Street (26:26) Yeah. And speaking of that, ⁓ this was not planned, but on May 30th, if you live in Colorado, we are having a walk in collaboration with Foresight Adventure Guides for the Blind. ⁓ And we're all going to meet up ⁓ May 30th at Cherry Creek State Park. And you can go on to AfterSight. Moses Street (26:36) I forgot. Penn Street (26:56) dot org and click on the event button to find out more and register and it's it's about a five mile walk and we will have sighted guides and ⁓ Yeah, and and we're offering breakfast at and lunch ⁓ So even if you just want to come for the food the Lions clubs of Colorado are sponsoring lunch so should be yummy so yeah, join us May 30th and Moses Street (27:22) Yeah. Penn Street (27:26) It'll be a really fun time. Moses and I are really excited about seeing you all out there. And you can bring your guide dogs, of course. ⁓ And you can bring just your pet, too, as long as they're on a leash. ⁓ Moses Street (27:32) It's the socializing. Yeah, and definitely the white cane. We've got to make the white cane as iconic as ⁓ the lips from the Rolling Stone promo. ⁓ I don't know why that's all that came into my mind. Okay. So take us out of here, Penn Street (27:44) Yes. I don't know why that all was like wondering where you were going to go with that. okay. Thank you all. Thank you all. Reach out to us, feedback@aftersight.org or if you're on YouTube, leave us a comment below and we will read it out loud. ⁓ And then also think Aftersight because without Aftersight we would not be here. Check them out at aftersight.org Check out all the programming and their other podcasts. And remember to be kind to yourself this week and find a way to be kind to somebody else. It's good for your soul.