Saturday, August 24, 2013

Walling without seeing


On our way to our job site there is a corner in the road where someone is doing gapping. We've never seen anyone working there but one day we stopped and took some photos. 


Later after some inquiry we found out that the wall is being built by a blind waller named Bernard. Apparently he does a lot of work in the area, presumably at night, as we've never seen him during the day, and I guess it wouldn't make any difference to him.



I think it would be challenging to build a wall if you couldn't see the stone selection or the wall. As I reflect on this photo of Bernard's I try to imagine the decisions and dynamics involved in building such a wall if I were blindfolded. Do you think are a few clues or rather characteristics of the wall that suggest it was not just the stone selection or the individual style (of a 'seeing' waller ) that produced this wall?