Before ASCII Photos


This illustration was created entirely by typewriter by a man with cerebral palsy. More of his amazing works can be found at the link below. The close up details of the illustrations are amazing.

Paul Smith, the man with extraordinary talent was born in Philadelphia on September 21, 1921 with severe cerebral palsy.
“Not only had Paul beaten the odds of a life with spastic cerebral palsy, a disability that impeded his speech & mobility but also taught himself to become a master artist as well as a terrific chess player even after being devoid of a formal education as a child.
“When typing, Paul used his left hand to steady his right one. Since he couldn’t press two keys at the same time, he almost always locked the shift key down and made his pictures using the symbols at the top of the number keys. In other words, his pictures were based on these characters … @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) _ .

Photo and commentary (in italics) from Crooked Brains, via Anita’s Picks.

[Update: Additional images from here. The links above are defunct, but here’s another background story. Paul ]