Thanks to some dear friends, poetry’s been crossing my path recently. As I read the works I’m being introduced to I’m struck by what I feel are close similarities with the craft of photography. It’s all about the process of selection.
In a poem, words are carefully chosen and when woven together a new creation emerges. And it’s not just the passing of words over one’s tongue that creates the experience…it’s everything in the spaces in between. It’s the beat, the sounds, the rhythm and the flow that sets the table and serves up the meal.
Photography is the process of selection, too. When looking through the lens the photographer selects a portion of a bigger picture to tell the story. Deliberately leaving some parts behind. As the poet leads you down a trail with his or her words, the photographer directs your eyes by taking you to a spot you may not have seen before. In both cases, through the process of selection you are taken somewhere. Somewhere you hadn’t before imagined.
Which is the sole purpose of art.