Erebus

Another hack at selecting text to weave narrative. Same book as before (chapter-xxii) but from a different chapter. I actually had to google what or who Erebus was. It was obvious that the word had associations to darkness from its usage but I didn’t know what it actually was.

When you read the actual text from the book, it’s easy to see it is associated with travel on a sailing vessel. Do the selected sections translate to a land-based visual?

It’s an interesting exercise for me. Susan Sontag once said that “a photograph could also be described as a quotation” and she went further to say “the taste for quotations (and for the juxtaposition of incongruous quotations) is a Surrealist taste.” Her view about it seemed filled with some disdain. But I think the exercise of trying to find narrative in one form and incorporate it into your photographic process is one that will have you practicing your craft – and practice is key to learning your craft. Doing it in reverse will also help fix the idea that narrative for an image is a very good way to create more powerful and engaging imagery.

Call me a surrealist. Pick a poem. Pick a story. Pick a headline. And, then go try to make an image that embodies what you chose. Push the button; practice, practice, practice.