When I am running low on poetic ideas, or my mind is racing in 14 different directions, I find photography really helpful to focus my writing. Nothing gets me out of overthinking like simply noticing what’s in front of me and letting that image act as a doorway within me to a memory or a feeling.
“The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.”
― Dorothea Lange
“When people look at my pictures I want them to feel the way they do when they want to read a line of a poem twice.”
― Robert Frank
“I often feel that people come to me to be photographed as they would go to a doctor or a fortune teller - to find out how they are.” - Richard Avedon
“You rarely have time for everything you want in this life, so you need to make choices. And hopefully your choices can come from a deep sense of who you are.” - Fred Rogers
Earth & Verse grows slowly through word of mouth, conversations between friends, and the generosity of those who share my work to their networks. Every share is deeply appreciated.
“Scrying involves gazing into a medium, hoping to receive significant messages or visions that could offer personal guidance, prophecy, revelation, or inspiration.” - Wikipedia
Choose two photographs, yours or two that you find intriguing, and begin by simply describing the first photograph in great detail.
As you describe it, are there feelings or knowings or memories that come up for you? Write to those, too.
When you have done that, focus on the other photograph and do it again.
Once you’ve done that, place the photographs side by side, and write to the space between them. What is the story that exists there? Why did you choose these two photographs? What do they say about you?
Allow yourself to write beyond the images, beyond the memories, and into the mystical opening that can sometimes happen when we dive deeply into the unseen realm. Trust the images that come, let one lead to another, until you are both lost and found.
I’d love to see the images you choose and the work that comes from them! Share in the comments or tag me if you post them!
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