A photographer from Norwich who lost her sight in her 20s has been proving her disability is not a limit to her creativity.

Rachael Andrews began using photography as a tool to keep an eye on her pet rats after losing her sight.

But soon taking pictures moved from practicality to creativity and a new hobby was born.

“At the age of 21 I became blind in one eye," said Mrs Andrews.

"Everything was OK for a couple of years as I had my remaining eye but then I began to lose vision in that one as well.

"That meant I lost my job as a bingo cashier and later had to stop working as a DJ.

“A year later I was given a digital camera which I used as a tool to keep an eye on my rats and to also look at things like food labels.

"But after three or four years I found I liked it was an artistic thing even though I had no remote interest in photography before."

The 49-year-old has myopic macular degeneration which caused her sight to deteriorate - leaving her with only limited peripheral vision.

To create her photos the Thorpe St Andrew creative uses a technique called focus peaking where a bright light flashes that tells Mrs Andrews the subject is in focus.

"I can't see the subject when I'm taking the photo other than a smear of colour.

"I'll take about 50 shots at a time then blow them up on my computer and I have to move my eyes around the screen to get a sense of the bigger picture, which I never get to see."

Mrs Andrews, who shares her work under the name Soft of Sight Photography, was the driving force for the creation of a photography group for visually-impaired people.

The organisation has since been helped others explore the hobby for over a decade.

She added: "I hope my photography inspires people and makes others realise that life is not over when you have a visual impairment and that people who have lost their sight can still be creative."