Sundog Rising!
Reflections on living the life literary by the Urban Sundog
When Is A Photograph Not A Poem? And Vice Versa
(photo by JHB)
My son is the video artist in the family, and my wife is the photographer. When my wife and I go on holiday, I take a camera too. So I’m not standing around bored stiff while she composes endless pictures. I take pictures too, but the camera I’m using isn’t as good as hers, and I don’t take shots as good as hers because I’m not as serious about it.
But I do write poetry. And I get ideas for poems looking at the same things she’s taking photographs of.
We have endless interesting discussions concerning the nature of the two arts. We’ve come to the conclusion that it doesn’t matter if your photos or poems are really any good, at least pursuing the two disciplines makes you look at the world around you differently. So you discover more depth and wonder than you might have caught otherwise. And that’s a good thing. Our planet’s a very rich place to be, once you get your nose away from your computer screen. Go! Go look at it, right now.
But as the person who sometimes does both, take photographs and write poems, I’m intrigued by the fact there can be a moment of mutual inspiration for each art form. Is the effect of that really special photograph the same as that well composed poem describing the same moment? Where do the two approaches converge? Where do they veer apart?
I haven’t read much theory behind photography and don’t pretend to be an expert, any more than I hold my photographs to be anything special. Although occasionally I do pull off a good one. Even just using a point and shoot.
But as I mentioned, my wife and I do talk about this a lot. And from my own thinking, I’ve put together a list of five facets of photography I perceive as making for good photos. An utterly amateur effort, but sufficient unto my argument for today. The five points are:
Your subject matter is so inherently beautiful or interesting, you can’t go wrong. Literally, just point and shoot.
The photographer is such an expert craftsperson, her inherent sense of how to compose a photograph makes even dull subject matter interesting. Dynamic equilibrium of elements within the picture.
The photographer has a highly developed aesthetic sense. She can shoot a common place subject in such a way people see it as they never have before. Imposing an artistic vision on the picture.
The photographer is in the right moment at the right time to capture something so fleeting it might have been missed otherwise.
Technology. Even the seven year old point and shoot I use is capable of taking outstanding quality photographs despite its user’s limitations. In fact, the camera takes pictures which more clearly depict scenes I witness visually than I am actually capable of seeing in person. It has better eyesight than I do. Really good cameras are available to anyone for reasonable prices.
Taking the technology issue one step further, even casual photographers have computer enhancing software available to them also these days. To the point where photographic images can be deconstructed and recomposed within the machine, for an utterly different effect. I don’t propose to take my discussion that far today. I don’t have anything against photoshopping things into new life, but that’s beyond my current range of personal experience playing with pictures. So I’m not getting into it. But I’m not against my wife straightening one of my photos on the computer so it looks more horizontal, or removing red eye, or sharpening up the colours so it looks more like I remember it, or doing a little cropping ... But I still work in the arena of making the image look more like what I remember taking the picture of, rather than creating a new aesthetic experience altogether.
So now let’s take a look at those five points as they may or may not relate to poetry.
Your subject matter is so inherently beautiful or interesting, you can’t go wrong. Literally, just point and shoot.
If you wander out in front of Lake Louise and start indiscriminately snapping, you’re still going to take some mighty fine pictures. I know. I did that. But if you start writing down any old general impressions of the same scene, you’re not going to automatically turn out a fine poem. Doesn’t matter how magnificent your subject matter is. A readable poem still requires work.
(Photo by JHB)
The photographer is such an expert craftsperson, her inherent sense of how to compose a photograph makes even dull subject matter interesting. Dynamic equilibrium of elements within the picture.
This one works the same. Someone good with words will make even a dull subject interesting. Likewise a good photographic craftsperson. The poem or picture may not fly as high as efforts with a more truly aesthetic aim, but you probably won’t regret the time you spend on either. Because then again, they might.
(Photo by Renee Beaubien)
The photographer has a highly developed aesthetic sense, and can shoot a common place subject in such a way people see it as they never have before. Imposing an artistic vision on the picture.
This is probably the height of both experiences for me. An artistic vision, an artistic voice. The kind of things that make you see and think, while still appreciating the sheer beauty of the composition in both cases as well.
(Photo by Renee Beaubien)
The photographer is in the right moment at the right time to capture something so fleeting it might have been missed otherwise.
There is an excitement in both forms trying to do this, I think. But I might give photography the edge. For one thing, it requires much more of a heightened aesthetic instinct to know to shoot that shot at the right moment. A poet can always make you see something in an event that you might not have seen passing by so quickly, but they have the leisure to sit back and craft exactly how they want to tell you about it. The photographer only ever has the actual moment. And what a wonderful philosophical discussion that could spin off to.
(Photo by Brian Beaubien)
Technology. Even the seven year old point and shoot I use is capable of taking outstanding quality photographs despite its user’s limitations.
The photographer has a much easier time of it here. The technology currently available can compensate for so much. But it doesn’t matter if a poet uses the latest word processing software or a pencil on the back of an envelope. The machine itself will never make your poem read as well as the camera will make even your bad photographs look good.
(Photo by JHB)
At the end of the day though, I have to give the nod to photography as the quickest and probably the best way to reach the greatest amount of people. I know I can post twenty-one poems and not get anywhere near the response putting up one photo grabs.
And just in case anyone’s counting, there was a situation a year or so ago when I sent a 700 page manuscript by e-mail to my brother-in-law Brian to check out, and he sent me one of his photographs in return. In terms of computer storage space, one picture is now worth more than 205,000 words.
(Photo by JHB)
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REALITY FICTION UPDATE!
And what is Reality Fiction, you may well ask?
Simple. The concept of the Reality Television Series translated to the printed page. 40 characters from my backlog of generally unpublished material are gathered together to compete in a different theme each Episode, with one or two characters being eliminated each sequence until there are only two left to fight it out in the final. The winner gets a short novel of their own as the grand prize.
But somehow, things always seem to go horribly wrong ...
What’s happening now?
Anybody remember Woody Allen’s second movie, What’s Up, Tigerlily? He took a Japanese action film and dubbed it with English voiceovers, telling a different sort of story than the images would have you believe you were actually viewing. Anyone ever watch a really badly dubbed Italian spy movie from the 1960s? I tell you, getting it wrong so fantastically was an art! One which I attempt to translate into the written word in Episode Sixteen: Silly European Spy Spoof (Dubbed).
You’ll have to read it out loud to believe it.
Starts Friday at: realficone.blogspot.ca
REALITY FICTION TOO! EPISODES TO DATE
EPISODE FIFTEEN: EROTIC SUPERNATURAL ROMANCE
“The Shadow of Her Passion”
EPISODE FOURTEEN: FLYING:
“Sky Calling”
EPISODE THIRTEEN: SLAPSTICK:
“The Phantom of the Werewolf”
EPISODE TWELVE: DAIRY FARMING:
“Early One Morning”
EPISODE ELEVEN: BURROUGHS:
“Chapter Nine”
EPISODE TEN: WEREWOLVES:
“The Silver Solution”
EPISODE NINE: WRESTLING:
“Suckerslam XIV”
EPISODE EIGHT: JANE AUSTEN ROMANCE:
“The Proud and the Senseless”
EPISODE SEVEN: THE JAZZ AGE:
“The Bucky-Dusky-Ruby Red Hop!”
EPISODE SIX: SUBMISSION:
“Re-Org”
EPISODE FIVE: MASQUERADE:
“The Eyes Behind the Mask”
EPISODE FOUR: SELF HELP:
“Sausage Stew for the Slightly Overweight Presents:
Some Several Suggestions Guaranteeing Success for the Mildly Neurotic”
EPISODE THREE: NUDIST:
“If You Have To Ask ...”
EPISODE TWO: FRENCH BEDROOM FARCE:
“Un Nuit a Fifi’s!”
EPISODE ONE: STEAMPUNK:
“The Chase of the Purple Squid!”
A J.H.B. Original!
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