From the course: Narrative Portraiture: On Location in Texas with Keith Carter

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Poetry and photography

Poetry and photography

From the course: Narrative Portraiture: On Location in Texas with Keith Carter

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Poetry and photography

Chris Orwig: So earlier, it was fun to hear you talk about being at MoMA and thinking through looking at those Ansel Adams images and John Szarkowski being there, and I loved something that he said about Ansel which he said, "It was as if he had the same vocabulary available to us all. It was just how he arranged the words." And that gets me thinking, as we are talking about, poetry. Poetry is a big thing for you. Your images have this poetic cadence to them and communication. How does poetry relate to image making for you? Keith: Well, I think that poetry, unlike prose, is non-linear. Certain words evoke certain images or sensations. And when I was young-- actually, I still do this today--but anytime I read something about a poet or poetry itself, I would change the word to photograph or photographym and the meaning would remain the same. For instant I read E.E. Cummings advice to a young poet where he says, "Well, if you want to be a poet, you have to work harder than anybody who…

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