The Power of the Portrait:
Portraits, Self Portraits and Identity
Experiment with different layouts and designs.
Use black and white and colour, text, illustration, double exposure etc.
Photopoetry
- An exploration of the symbiotic relationship between poetry and photography.
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The meanings of photographs are never fixed, are not contained solely within the photographs themselves and rely on a combination of the viewer's sensitivity, knowledge and understanding, and the specific context in which the image is seen.
Photographs are often accompanied by various kinds of text - titles, captions, articles etc. The text helps to anchor the image which, otherwise, would be multivalent - open to many possible meanings and interpretations. Photopoetry might be considered as a special example of this type of image/text composite. In photopoetry, the nature of the interplay between photographs and poems depends on various factors. For example: -
the form and register in which the poetry is written
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the genre and/or style of the photographs
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the design (e.g. typography and page layout) and structure of the photopoetry publication
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the implied audience of the photopoetry publication
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the nature of the collaboration between poet and photographer or the working practice of the photopoet
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In this way, a photopoetry publication can be considered greater than the sum of its parts. A special kind of energy is generated when poems and photographs combine successfully. What do both poetry and photography gain from being so closely associated?
Questions to ask yourself
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What are the similarities between photographs and poems? How do poets/photographers perceive and represent the world? What are the differences?
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In what sense could a photograph be described as 'poetic'? What might poets admire about the qualities of photographs?
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How might you begin to create one or more photopoems? Would you wish to collaborate with someone (a poet or photographer) or do you think you might tackle the poetry and photography yourself?
An example of this kind of modernist collaboration is Pro eto. Ei i mne (‘About This. To Her and to Me’) by poet Vladimir Mayakovsky and including a cover photograph and interior photomontages by Alexander Rodchenko.
Leslie Scalapino: Crowd and not evening or light (1992)
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Hans Eijkelboom: New City Poetry (2018)
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​This photopoetry zine presents photographs of people in urban spaces wearing T-shirts with slogans. The slogans are printed separately as if they were pithy, poetic phrases, and these are then followed by sequences of street photographs showing the slogans in the context of fashion decisions. The aphorisms state 'truths', offer advice or make social commentary. When seen photographed on the T-shirt of the wearer, the slogans reveal something of the identity of the wearer, often with elements of disjunction, paradox or irony. For example, a girl appears to snarl whilst wearing the slogan:
What do I need to produce?
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Research Photopoetry from it's origins in the 1930's to the present day.
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Find at least 4 artists who create photopoems and create research pages on them (there are loads on Vimeo)
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Choose one of the activities below and undertake at least 3 different photoshoots in response the the poetry you choose.
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Present your work as a book, to include the poetic prose.
Choose one of the activities below and present your work as a book.
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Create a series of photographs in response to an existing collection of poems. For example, you could attempt to re-present older, well-known poems, imagining you have commissioned to create new images to accompany a publication aimed at a younger audience. Alternatively, you could select more contemporary poems (either by the same author or by a range of poets but on a similar theme) and attempt to provide a parallel photographic expression of the main ideas, moods, characters and situations etc.
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Collaborate on the creation of a new, original photopoetry publication with a writer/photographer. Will you both contribute poems/photographs or separate your roles? Is there someone you know who is studying or interested in photography and/or creative writing with whom you could collaborate? Are you able to use social media to connect virtually (and safely) with a collaborator? Could a teacher help facilitate a collaboration with another student/class in school? Will you choose to publish your work as a book, zine or pamphlet or could the collaboration be shared on the Internet in some form - a blog, a website, a video etc?
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Create a series of photographs based on 'found' poems. Found poetry (like the slogans on the shirts photographed by Hand Eijkelboom in New City Poetry) is usually hiding in plain sight. For example, you could 'find' these poems in newspapers, magazines or on the Internet by using Brion Gysin's Cut-Up method). You might make notes of text you 'find' on the street - signs, posters, advertising hoardings etc. - combining them later into poetic shapes.
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Write you own poems and take your own photographs. If you feel confident in both art forms, why not have a go at doing the whole thing yourself? What will come first - the words or the pictures? Perhaps they will evolve in parallel.
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Create a series of photographs based on the lyrics of a song, be inspired by a musical artist you know well and create your imagery in response to the meaning and visual imagery the lyric conjure up in your head.
Tamar Yoseloff & Vici MacDonald: Formerly (2012)
​Yoseloff and MacDonald share an interest in “forgotten corners of a London now fast disappearing”. The poems respond to the photographs of London locations in irregular sonnet form. The poems and corresponding photographs are paired. A pull-out map identifies each location and the poet and the photographer comment on the background to or the context of each of their works.