I've been on Flickr since 2009 and in 2011 i became a Stroke Artist. To those that know me on, Here Facebook and Off-line you will know what a massive deal it for me to say that.

I had a series of strokes leaving areas of brain damage in 2011, that was effecting my visual perception ( i've been left with other issues too ) - and so much so i had to re-train the other part of my brain to even draw a basic line.

Fast forward 2014 and a lot has been happening ( which is why i've not had time to edit and upload although i have continued to work nevertheless ), and after cognitive testing at Addenbrooks i have been given a better idea of how my 'new brain' as it where, handles visual information.

My damaged brain can no longer process all incoming nor out coming information, and this controls what i see, what information from my memory i have access too, to even how i move, and even using tool like a pencil has been damaged and so much such that if i go to draw something i don't draw what i think as the signals to my hand get mixed up, so i don't have full control of my limbs ( including hands )

This all seems bad enough but the strokes have made me partially sighted which has now been confirmed as permanent . I have had heaps of Neurological testing and investigation to access what do i actually see which is still on-going. It seems i discard most of the information i see - so i experience the world as a blur on the outer edges and completely from the waist down. I have a clear part of central vision but as the image come into focus it warps and merges - a bit Cubist like. In the clear part of my vision i not onto take notice off all the visual information - so i can look at a table and lose something as big as a cuppa - but if i move my focus slightly it reappears.

For years i tried to get my vision back - but its been confirmed as brain damage from the strokes so i have to learn to live with it. It taken me 3 years to come to terms with that - and to say i am different and more recently that its so bad i'm basically partially sighted

But this also gives me a unique view of the world and reading about other disabled people, and esp other photographers and artists that see the world differently to other people ( because they have something that different - an abnormal brain ) that processes the world around them in different and unique ways. I am learning to let go of my old visual ability and to accept the new me, and to see that i may have lost something, but i have also gained something and these other artists have helped me to be see - that i have a window into the world that no one else see and that is a new universe of artistic exploration if i want it to be. And that is a thing that will be of interest to people and as much as it was bad to become partially sighted from the strokes - i have an amazing opportunity to explore and show people a view of things that can never see.

For a long time i wanted to not accept i am unable to see correctly to i was trying to do my old sort of shots, or compos i know are accepted. But for ages i have been doing what i call 'My new eye shots', but have not had the guts to edit and show them. As a result i have a mountains worth of work - some of which i consider miles better than anything i have uploaded onto here for some time. But accepting that meant accepting a horrid truth - because of the stroke i can never truly see the world again. So i've decided to come out of the closet and fess up! I am a stroke artist, to not be afraid of that and to show people what my new eye really sees and saying this will give me more confidence to do the art i now want to do.

This old mind set of trying to be the pre-stroke me has regrettably denied me the freedom to really explore to scene and shot it in my new eyes ( i have just started to break out of this and have one shot under my belt when i let myself completely go and be free ). But on all of my shots i did allow myself some new eye time, so from now on i'm editing the pick of the best of the old mindset, and exploring what my unique brain can cook up.

Big Huge Labs - bighugelabs.com/dna.php

There is a vast selection of Creative Common images to download for personnel and non-commercial use on my Facebook Page - www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.172687566140725.42207.1...