摘要：There are few photographs of blind people in the repertoire of American photography. One of the most famous is “Blind” (1917) by Paul Strand (which is part of the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York). It is a photograph of a blind woman taken on the street in New York City. This woman is a beggar. Around her neck just below a pin bearing her license number, she is wearing a placard spelling out her blindness, which allows her to beg: this was the Progressive Era, when begging on the streets required a license. This labeling system was a way to control the outcasts of society by clearly identifying them for all to see. Once she was officially certified as being blind, this woman could be the legitimate object of the public’s pity. Passersby literally could not remain blind to her blindness and would no doubt give her a coin.
