If your photos could illustrate a novel, which would you choose?

buzzardkid said:
Interesting choices. Do you guys feel you could illustrate those novels because the photos you take align with your perception of what those books are about?

Is there a parallel between the photo's you take and the book you choose?
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I just love the idea of doing B&W documentary of a bustling New England whaling town in 1850. Imagine a portrait of a pissed-off Ahab in his sitting room taken on 6x7 ACROS… or a Neopan 1600 shot of Ishmael at the inn…
 
The Sun Also Rises, The Grapes of Wrath, and On the Road. These are among my favorite books and what I visually like to aspire to with my photography. I almost always fall painfully short, but it's all about the journey, which in a way is what all these books have in common. The final destinations never live up to what they promise. It's the journey that matters.
 
Roger Hicks said:
For me, fiction and pictures don't really go together, though illustrating non-fiction is another matter. R.
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I agree with this. What I'd like to do is photograph (and actually write) stories/documentaries about the disenfranshised groups or peoples throughout the world.

Example: the FSA photographs and the written stories of those people whose lives were uprooted by conditions at that time; or, in our world today, the written stories of people whose lives are adversely affected by conditions beyond their control, e.g., war, famine, natural disasters, etc...
 
I would pick pick " 100 years of solitude". Still photography to me is a solitary occupation anyway.
 
paulfish4570 said:
i'm thinking only of a cover, a single photo.
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The idea would be that your photo's would complement the novel in either a theme, a mood or something like that, not so much a mere single illustration. I should have worded it more thoroughly in the original post...

For instance, apart from the mise en scene in Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being, there is also the sense of inevitability that all the characters will end up alone, being lonely. The ingredients of a classical tragedy.

Somehow, thinking of that book always projects a simple country road in a misty morning on my minds eye. A road you have to go since there is no alternative (can't stay, no cross roads or stray path) and what you'll find at the end of it may take on any form but it will still be something that you could anticipate.

Maybe I am getting too philosophical now...?
 
Keith said:
'Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas' ... I like the way Hunter S Thompson thinks. I gave my father that book to read on his eightieth birthday and he loved it!
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Ever since I read FLLV I've had a major weak spot for HST. I like Hell's Angels and Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72 better though. But the book I'd want to shoot for would be The Rum Diary. It's been filmed, but that didn't always feel quite as if it came from within the story (does that make any sense?).

If I'd be able to pull it off is a different matter altogether, but I'd love to give it a whirl anyway.

I'd have to think about any other books I'd want to give a go - to me, this sort of thing has a high spur o' the moment content and so far these moments pass due to life being in the way. To paraphrase the Good Doctor, I'd have to buy the ticket & take the ride at some point!

Food for thought. Good.

Cheers,
Derk
 
Although I take mostly competent but boring, pretty landscapes I've always hankered after a go at documentary photography but have never had the confidence to do it. If I ever did pluck up the courage I'd go back in time to illustrate the book "Children of the Dead End" by Patrick MacGill.
 
a couple of choices and the cover photographer for the version I have in hand:

Fugitive Pieces ( Anne Michaels ) cover photo by Jeff Cottenden
Another Country ( James Baldwin ) cover photo by Charles Moore
Down and Out in Paris and London ( George Orwell ) cover photo by Stephane Passet

Casey
 
The Bible is a novel, right?

Someone said something like: 'one photograph of Jesus would be worth more than everything in the Louvre, combined.' Or some such thing. I'm sure i'm misunderstanding/misrepresenting the question, though.... How does this work? Your 'current day' photographs would illustrate any novel from any time? Or, you could photograph during the time set in the book?

Andy stole my answer, or at least one of them. The Sun Also Rises.
 
Good call on the Rum Diary. That is one of my favorite books of all time. I have to admit, it did not pop into my mind, although I'd love for my photos to reflect that mood of that book.

For me, The Great Gatsby.
 
I imagine "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn", though I never lived in Brooklyn might be quite inspirational for me. First because it suggests finding something unexpected. Also because I love the vintage photos of that time - late depression, early WW2. The old cars, the lovely old architecture. The cast of characters. Imagine a portrait of a singing waiter in an Irish Pub; a weary but still pretty housewife dresses and aprons. Two kids finding things to interest them despite not having expensive toys. A little girl with great potential because she is bright. People finding pleasure in little because they have not a lot. And the tree!

The possibilities are endless.
 
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