Nh3
Well-known
Is photography closer in spirit to poetry or straight narrative?
I think poetry is more ancient and primordial therefore free of reason and logic - more human... So, I would say photography is more akin to poetry and that's why its so incredibly difficult to make great photos the same way that its virtually impossible to write great poetry.
I think poetry is more ancient and primordial therefore free of reason and logic - more human... So, I would say photography is more akin to poetry and that's why its so incredibly difficult to make great photos the same way that its virtually impossible to write great poetry.
squirrel$$$bandit
Veteran
I'll be the devil's advocate and say that narrative is just as primordially human--it's the way we understand our lives, by telling ourselves stories. We see a photo and invent a story about it--it's a big part of how we process visual information.
russianRF
Fed 5C User
We often hear or read a poem and invent a story about it, too. These writing genres don't exist in a vacuum--there are "narrative" aspects to poetry and poetic aspects to narrative.
I think the question is better framed in a different literary split: epic versus lyrical. Epic poems, novels, etc. all have a grand sweep to them -- you can't understand one part without the rest, and the full weight of the artistic message is only realized by experiencing the whole work.
Lyric poems, on the other hand, are small personal snippets. They are often more subjective, more personal, and while these poems are usually collected in volumes, each poem is a complete work unto itself. True, you can compare and contrast different poems to come up with larger meanings, themes, etc. but the basic purpose of the lyric poem is to be an independant artistic work.
Now, think about photographs. You can see one Ansel Adams print and understand the print completely -- viewing other Adams prints is nice, but not really necessary to understand the one you are viewing. Each photograph is a separate act; even in a series, photographs receive their power from the essence of the lone still picture. The rhythms and contrasts within the photograph itself are part of the message, just like the cadence and rhyme within a poem are part of its art.
Film, as in cinema, on the other hand, is definitely a more epic medium -- we anticipate from one moment to the next how all the moving images in front of us relate to the larger picture.
So, if I have to use what I believe are oversimplified terms -- poetry or narrative -- I would say that still photography is definitely more poetic.
I think the question is better framed in a different literary split: epic versus lyrical. Epic poems, novels, etc. all have a grand sweep to them -- you can't understand one part without the rest, and the full weight of the artistic message is only realized by experiencing the whole work.
Lyric poems, on the other hand, are small personal snippets. They are often more subjective, more personal, and while these poems are usually collected in volumes, each poem is a complete work unto itself. True, you can compare and contrast different poems to come up with larger meanings, themes, etc. but the basic purpose of the lyric poem is to be an independant artistic work.
Now, think about photographs. You can see one Ansel Adams print and understand the print completely -- viewing other Adams prints is nice, but not really necessary to understand the one you are viewing. Each photograph is a separate act; even in a series, photographs receive their power from the essence of the lone still picture. The rhythms and contrasts within the photograph itself are part of the message, just like the cadence and rhyme within a poem are part of its art.
Film, as in cinema, on the other hand, is definitely a more epic medium -- we anticipate from one moment to the next how all the moving images in front of us relate to the larger picture.
So, if I have to use what I believe are oversimplified terms -- poetry or narrative -- I would say that still photography is definitely more poetic.
bmattock
Veteran
W
wlewisiii
Guest
Poetry is simply the oldest format of telling a narrative in a way that's easy to remember. It's all the same.
The frog leaps
A decisive moment snaps
Ah, lenscap!
William
PS - Bill, I wisecracked that one off before reading your page. Good material there. I need to print it out for pondering over a good whiskey. Thanks!
The frog leaps
A decisive moment snaps
Ah, lenscap!
William
PS - Bill, I wisecracked that one off before reading your page. Good material there. I need to print it out for pondering over a good whiskey. Thanks!
Last edited by a moderator:
Chris101
summicronia
Both poetry and narrative are subdivisions of the written word. Likewise there are subdivisions of the lightwritten image. Some photography is like descriptive prose. Other pictures are more poetic.
russianRF
Fed 5C User
Nh3
Well-known
Poetry is at its best when its inspired by what the poet felt rather than what he "thought". A good novel or a story is at its best when its about what the author thought rather than what he felt.
This discrepancy should not be there if both poetry and descriptive narrative are the same.
Descriptive narrative has to work from a concrete base of logic and grammatical rules so that its comprehensible. Its very similar to photo(s) of a product for sale. In one frame or more the product is fully described.
On the other hand Atget's famous photo of of Notre Dame from behind a tree is a perfect example of poetry in photography. The main subject is Notre Dame but why he framed it from behind a tree is something which could never be explained and THAT is the main poetic inspiration of that photo - that unknown quality.
I think photos based on descriptive narrative work if they're providing factual information to the viewer, like photos of a political rally or war, but even there poetry could be used to accentuate the photos and give them that quality which makes one look at them again and again, even though the information it was supposed to pass has long since become old news. Photos of the Sahel region by Salgado is a perfect example of how he used a more poetic approach to document a famine rather than the cliched descriptive narrative style which was the norm then.
Imo poetic photographs are always better than the descriptive ones.
This discrepancy should not be there if both poetry and descriptive narrative are the same.
Descriptive narrative has to work from a concrete base of logic and grammatical rules so that its comprehensible. Its very similar to photo(s) of a product for sale. In one frame or more the product is fully described.
On the other hand Atget's famous photo of of Notre Dame from behind a tree is a perfect example of poetry in photography. The main subject is Notre Dame but why he framed it from behind a tree is something which could never be explained and THAT is the main poetic inspiration of that photo - that unknown quality.
I think photos based on descriptive narrative work if they're providing factual information to the viewer, like photos of a political rally or war, but even there poetry could be used to accentuate the photos and give them that quality which makes one look at them again and again, even though the information it was supposed to pass has long since become old news. Photos of the Sahel region by Salgado is a perfect example of how he used a more poetic approach to document a famine rather than the cliched descriptive narrative style which was the norm then.
Imo poetic photographs are always better than the descriptive ones.
russianRF
Fed 5C User
As opposed to taco-flavored kisses, of course.
bmattock
Veteran
I suspect the O/P was asking 'poetry or prose' and just used the wrong terms. And yes, I know that poetry can be written as prose. But hey, snark, snark, snark. You can answer the question or be a ****.
crawdiddy
qu'est-ce que c'est?
Hey Nh3 (aka ammonia), why don't you make this a poll? Let members decide in a binary fashion?
Carlsen Highway
Well-known
Photography is simply a means of communication, as Chris says, like the written word.
It can be narrative or lyrical depending on the operators intentions. There are artists waxing poetic (or not) and journalists describing what they find and reporting back (poetically or not) - and then there are interesection red light cameras.
Photography is a language, what you say with it is up to you.
It can be narrative or lyrical depending on the operators intentions. There are artists waxing poetic (or not) and journalists describing what they find and reporting back (poetically or not) - and then there are interesection red light cameras.
Photography is a language, what you say with it is up to you.
hawkeye
steve
A photograph is neither a poem or a narrative. Cameras are clocks that make images. The photograph is a frame in a movie which implies both past and future action. Poems are made of words which are inauthentic as their meaning is dependent upon our interpretation.
A photograph is a presentation of the world that presents the world as it is. We can interpret it or add meanings but that's us.
A poem or narrative or any written piece is created with intent to use the variable meaning of words to create images in our minds.
A photograph is an image in your hand.
Hawkeye
A photograph is a presentation of the world that presents the world as it is. We can interpret it or add meanings but that's us.
A poem or narrative or any written piece is created with intent to use the variable meaning of words to create images in our minds.
A photograph is an image in your hand.
Hawkeye