There are many ways pictures and photographs can be conscripted to support the writing of poetry. Allow me to share a few ideas with you:
Old photographs are a great source of inspiration. Cynthia Rylant explored this idea with great success in her book 'Something Permanent' where she employed the Depression era photographs of Walker Evans to add a new voice to the starkness to the lives of people experienced under extreme circumstances.
I have used this strategy to spark many individual poems. In 'I Bet There's No Broccoli On The Moon,' I used a photo I had taken in 2004 while living in New York to inspire a poem. The poem was based on a story related by a friend who grew up in New York.
I regularly combined poetry and pictures in my writer's notebook, drawing on inspiration from the photograph and my personal memories.
We can also utilize existing cartoons and illustrations to create ekphrastic poems. I frequently use the illustrations of Jim Pavlidis to conjure up new and imagined poetic possibilities.It provides both poetry and some essential wordplay.
Recently I have been delving back into Collage poetry...
Occasionally, I use of my own illustrations to accompany poems in my notebook. Illustrating is not something I consider a strength, for that reason I must continue to be risk taker and go there from time to time.
I also like to use photographs as a background for poems.
Some further possibilities might include the following:
*illustrations from wordless picture books
*cartoons strips could also provide stimulus for poetry.
I think by now you are getting the picture...
May you readily find inspiration in the images the world places before you. Snap!
Wow, so much goodness in this post. Thank you for sharing all the ways pictures can inform our poetry and vice versa. And thank you for sharing your 'risk taking' poem - "living life twice". I am going to give your six room poem strategy a go! : )
ReplyDeleteThank you Bridget. Glad you found some ideas you can use going forward.
DeleteAlan! I have been collaging up a STORM these days. Words and images. I simply cannot get enough time at my craft table. I so understand the mixing of what is with what might be from my mind. What a rich post of summer poem to wedding poem to collage. Love all your risk-taking.
ReplyDeleteIt is quite amazing how much commonality exists in our various responses at this time Linda. Risk taking is essential, it facilitates discovery. May the collaging continue!
DeleteThanks for all these ideas, Alan. I think you have sparked a wave of uniting words and images for me... I'll have to look for Cynthia Rylant's book, and pull out some old photos... yes, this will be fun! Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteIf my post helps to spark ideas then I am most pleased Karen. Have fun delving into those old photos.
DeletePhotos really do inspire writing, offer clues to detail to include, etc. I loved reading all your examples and seeing your sketches. You have an amazing notebook.
ReplyDeleteThank you Janice. Your kind remarks are most appreciated. My notebooks continue to evolve after close to forty years. I find myself circling back to ideas and strategies used in the past as well as trying new ideas. It all helps to keep it fresh and exciting to go there each day. Glad you enjoyed the offering in this post.
DeleteWhat a fabulous post! I'm loving all the ideas for how to use photos to inspire writing. I link up photographs and poems often, but you've given me a lot of other new ideas to ponder. Of all your wonderful poems, Neville the messy cook is a favorite and I can all to easily relate to Penny's igniting head. I'm also a big fan of "Risky Words." As others have commented, your notebooks are fabulous--Thanks for sharing some of the bounty here!
ReplyDeleteThanks heaps Molly. I am aware of your ability as a writer and poet to link words and images, so I am not altogether surprised that you have found some connection with my revelations. It pleases me that you found something to ponder.
DeleteHi Alan. Thanks for these lyrical, photogenic, artistic & multi-media explosions of thought. Bravo!
ReplyDeleteThank you Jan. Your overview is much appreciated. It's rewarding to share some of the joy with appreciative others.
DeleteAlan, this is such a rich post, and we are definitely on the same wavelength this week. I've always felt that images are "sparks of curiosity." I really love the determination in "Risky Words." I constantly need to remind myself to "write to the edges of thoughts and ideas." Thank you for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteSpot on Catherine, images are sparks of curiosity. Glad you found inspiration in my risky words poem. Thank you for your kind remarks.
DeleteWow, Alan. I write poems to images all the time. And even when I write the poem first, I always find it feels incomplete to me without an image or graphic...I love Old Boo, and thoughts of sleeping on a fire escape give me a falling feeling in my stomach (though I love the zephyr of a breeze)!
ReplyDeleteImages are great support for the poetic form as you state Laura. Glad you found connection with the content of my poems.
DeleteImages are always in my eye very close to a thought. Thanks for sharing this powerful collection of poems and images and how they are intertwined and important to each other! I think there are many Pennies our there with igniting heads…
ReplyDeleteThe juxtaposition of thought and image is a great reminder Michelle. Thank you for your remarks. Igniting Heads might be the name of a new musical group, given the current political landscape.
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