Photography and Words Project
This photography and words project was born from a place of love, my life-long love for these two art forms. As a visual artist, I’m always trying to create pieces of art in which the whole will be greater than the sum of the individual parts. In reality, the combination of words and images is ubiquitous in our modern society. At the most basic level, we have captions providing viewers with the context behind an image. In our daily lives, we all write captions for social media posts and read the text of those colorful advertisements. As humans, we are wired to respond to visual cues to give meaning to our surroundings. By combing words and images, artists can guide viewers’ attention to different facets during their visual journey. Personally, I believe that the message reinforcement created by joining photography and words help to create enticing stories.
“a picture is a poem without words.”
The intersection between photography and words.
Even though writing forms such as poetry and prose were around before photography was invented, it is important to remember that early forms of writing evolved from pictorial images. So, it is not far fetched to argue that images and words have a shared history. Several artists have explored the relationship between these two art forms since the early 20th century, and innovations in the fields of photography and printing have certainly accelerated the interest in combining images and words. One of the first examples of photopoetry emerged from the collaboration between Vladimir Mayakovsky and Aleksandr Rodchenkoshows. Initially, in 1923, Vladimir wrote the poem “Pro eto. Ei i mne” for Lilya Brik, his lover. A few months later, Aleksandr published Vladimir’s poem accompanied by a photomontage in the LEF journal.– a renowned graphical design magazine.
The relevance of combining words and images is increasing in our visually dominated society. However, a side effect of this ever-growing expansion of quick scrolls is the viewers’ desensitization. Such a phenomenon reiterates the crucial importance of developing new storytelling techniques to capture the audience’s attention. Fortunately, this new reality of social media has been trailed by the development of easy-to-use design software and the democratization of photography gears. These new trends have and will undoubtedly contribute to the expansion of photoverses and photopoetry.
Why combine photography with poetry or prose?
I believe that different artists would provide different answers to this question. But, the main reason why I combine photography with words is to provide further context to an image. It’s important to remember that while artists create art, the interpretation of such art pieces happens in the viewer’s mind. The fact that the meaning of a piece of art is never fixed is a really fascinating thought. In a way, I feel like art is a living entity that only comes to be by eliciting its counterpart’s feelings. This openness to interpretation offered by combining these art forms is an appealing force that drives me to create photopoetry and photoverses.
Usually, my creative process starts after I capture an image that provides hints about a narrative without disclosing the whole story. Those images are often enigmatic, thus providing the viewer with room for interpretation. By adding text to those images, I provide clues that will guide the viewer’s visual exploration. On the other hand, some pictures tell the whole story by themselves. Honestly, It would be hard to add value to an image portraying a beautiful sunset on an expansive mountain valley.
The path leading to this photography and words project:
As I previously mentioned, the idea for this project was born many years ago. I have already tried to create a book that would gather the poetry, prose, and photography that I have created over the years. But, honestly, I have failed miserably in all my previous attempts. My first try happened over 15 years ago. After buying a digital camera, I decided to capture images that would complement my existing poetry and prose. But, at that time, I lacked the finesse and technical capacity to combine images and texts in a compelling way. And after paying to print 30 pictures and 60 proses and poems, I ended up with a bundle of disconnected pieces of paper. Despite this disastrous experience, the idea of creating something like this got stuck in my head.
Fast forward 10 years (enough time to heal the scars from my previous experience), and I muster enough courage to give another go on this book creation endeavor. I was blown away by all the advancements in graphic design software. This time around, I used Adobe tools to design the layout of the book and printed a copy using Blurb services. When comparing my first and second attempts, I could notice how using professional design software and printing service helped me with this project. However, I wouldn’t say that my second book was a masterpiece. The creative freedom provided by professional software can be, at first, extremely overwhelming. The result of such creative freedom is people trying to fill all the blank spaces with text, textures, and colors – at least that was my initial impulse.
I like to think that while photography is poetry created with colors, light, and shapes; poetry is the art of eternalizing moments with words.
The future of this Photography and Words Project:
Despite the momentary frustration of (once again) failing to create something remarkable, that experience was very productive. The process of creating a photography-poetry book not only helped me to better understand the new graphic design tools, but it also forced me to pay attention to design. This experience revealed all my shortfalls and helped me to improve my storytelling skills. As a strong believer that testing your skills in a real scenario is the only way to real progression, I am glad to have gone through this unpleasant experience.
This second book also helped me shape my photography by exposing my lack of image variety. As a landscape photographer, I often focus my efforts on capturing those colorful, expansive landscapes. While those images are great to see on full-page and two-page spreads, they often fail to show details and convey a story. Nowadays, when I go out photographing, I force myself to capture at least one image using a wide, normal, and telephoto lens. And as a result, I’m usually able to create enticing stories by showing different angles and perspectives. In the end, my pursuit to create a book taught me how to become a better photographer and designer. Finally, I gladly admit that the challenge of creating a book taught me to face each moment as part of a bigger story, and not as a bunch of single moments.
Final considerations:
For now, the goal of this photography and words project is not to create a book. I’m creating this project to share images that inspired me to write. I also want to highlight the power of joining text, image, typography, and design. Maybe, one day down the line, this project might become a book. But for now, I invite you to enjoy it.
