Canon x Somerset House
Canon Europe, in partnership with Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), designed and created an accessible photography exhibition – ‘World Unseen’ – in the East Wing Galleries of Somerset House.
05 & 06 Apr 2023
Wunderman Thompson (UK) Limited facilitated the exhibition on behalf of Canon Europe, a branch of Canon, the renowned multinational corporation specialising in optical, imaging, and industrial products, such as lenses, cameras, medical equipment, scanners, printers and more. At Somerset House, Wunderman Thompson worked with our accredited production supplier, Event Concept, to bring the ‘World Unseen’ exhibition to life.
The immersive, first-of-its-kind photography exhibition, ‘World Unseen’ enabled everyone – blind, partially sighted and sighted visitors – to experience imagery in an entirely new way, using Canon elevated printing technology to bring the power of imaging to everyone.
“Photography is a visual medium so how do you make it accessible to people who are partially sighted or cannot see at all? That is the aim of World Unseen, a temporary exhibition at Somerset House in central London, where photographs have been brought to life using 3D elevated prints, audio descriptions, soundscapes and braille to help visitors connect with the images.”
BBC News
The exhibition featured works from world-renowned photographers, including Sebastião Salgado, Brent Stirton, Nanna Heitmann, Muhammed Muheisen, Yagazie Emezi and Marc Aspland. Guests of the exhibition heard vivid descriptions from the photographers themselves via immersive, audio soundscapes and read them with your fingertips, embossed in braille. They could even feel the images’ textures and compositions through tactile printing.
Accessibility and wayfinding were key and all teams worked together to ensure that all public spaces around the site of Somerset House had ‘NaviLens Codes,’ which were connected to an app that helped visually impaired users navigate their way around the building by providing contextualised directions.