Dec 12 2008
why good poems are like photos, and vice versa
Everyone knows the old adage that “a picture is worth a thousand words”, but I’ve always felt that it goes both ways.
Imagery is an important part of most poetic forms, and for good reason.
If poems try to share a thought, feeling or moment, they need to draw a picture for our brains to connect with the words.
Take this famous poem by William Carlos Williams as an example:
This is just to say
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast.
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold.
The whole poem hinges on one simple image - the plums, cold from the fridge - but conveys so much more.
And of course, a really good photo tells a whole story. One of my own personal favourites is a photo I took of my sons watching a toy santa climb a ladder in shop window. I took the photo from outside, while they were inside, and they are focused on the toy, not the camera.
It says so much about the innocence of childhood, but also about the way a parent looks at their children when they aren’t looking. I’ll try to post the photo here soon.
So whether your passion is poetry or photography, focusing on the storytelling aspect of either form is essential.
