EDINBURGH.- Contemporary Art Exchange presents Through the Looking Glass, Dimly an international collaboration project between blind photographers Andrew Follows (Melbourne) and Rosita McKenzie (Edinburgh). This ambitious project features an exhibition, photography workshops and events run over 2 weeks from Saturday 4th August as part of this year's Edinburgh Art Festival.

The exhibition, held at The Old Ambulance Depot, is Andrew Follows’ international debut and Rosita McKenzie’s first collaboration with an international artist. Both artists will showcase recent work, most of which has never been seen before, will give an artists’ talk, and lead photography workshops for sighted and non-sighted people at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop.

In the exhibition the artists explore similar themes. Andrew has documented the effects of the devastating 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in the Victorian Highlands, Australia. Rosita, although having never ‘seen’ Andrew’s work, has responded to it by documenting the effects of the unusual forest fires in the Scottish Highlands in early 2011. Andrew has also captured the Southern Hemisphere by night and in response, Rosita has documented the nocturnal Northern Hemisphere.

Underpinning the artists’ subject matter are themes of reflection, mirroring and opposites. Audiences can compare the different perspectives of these two photographers from opposite sides of the world, and also discover how blind photography has developed into an internationally recognised artform.

This project celebrates diversity, equality and inclusiveness and provides a change in what’s usually on offer during the Edinburgh Art Festival. It repositions artists often found on the periphery, to the center of mainstream contemporary art, and questions preconceptions about what visual art should be and who has permission to create it.