Art Informing Art: how photographic strategies apply to writing

This isn't the first time I've written about art informing art. Way back in July of 2005, I wrote a post called Writing From Art to Art about a workshop my daughter Grace and I attended at a local art museum. As part of the session, each attendee took a pen and paper and sat before a painting of her choice, letting the artwork speak until it inspired words -- a story, a poem, a memory. Then we shared our pieces with each other. It was beyond cool to look at one artist's painting and hear what it had spoken to another artist.

Then, in January of 2006, I wrote Building Character, a post about watching a theater professor work with actors to help them embody their characters. I was on site as a choreographer, but I found myself sitting at his feet as a writer, learning secrets to make my characters live on the page.

I don't know about you, but my writer brain comes alive when I immerse myself in other arts. Sometimes all it takes is a change of scenery, a switching of mental channels, and story problems that seemed insurmountable solve themselves. I just needed some distance and a fresh perspective.

This weekend I'm photographing a wedding. I love photography, and I love weddings. But I don't particularly love traditional wedding photography -- lining up the players in front of the altar, everyone looking at the camera and smiling. Most young couples these days hire photographers with a journalistic style, someone who will capture the moments as they happen. I much prefer to shoot that way. Even when people are posing, I find I capture a lot of the best shots in between the "real" ones.

A couple of days ago while making mental notes for the coming event, I thought about my favorite wedding photos and had a little epiphany. Photographic strategies not only apply to writing, if we think about what we love in certain photos, those insights can help us approach writing with fresh eyes.

I know the following list is incomplete, and I'd love to hear any additional ideas that occur to you, but this will get us started. (I included some of the wedding photos that inspired the thoughts.) 

1. Zoom out for context. Place matters. Setting often becomes a character.

2. Zoom in. Let subtle choices and external details reveal your characters' values.

3. Focus on something ordinary while the important action happens in the background. 

4. Sometimes abstract impressions work better than strict realism.

 

5. Let body language speak for itself. 

6. Lovable secondary characters can steal a scene. That's okay as long as they deepen our understanding of the main characters and enrich the story. 

7. Make room for humor and serendipity. Always be on the look out for fun, unscripted moments.

8. Look for fresh angles and unusual perspectives.

 

9. Purity can be mysterious and even provocative.

10. Be intentional. What you leave out says as much as what you put in.

 

Okay, now it's your turn! Can you think of some other ways photography informs writing? You don't have to be a photographer to make suggestions, and you definitely don't have to stick to wedding pictures. If you have photos that illustrate something about story telling, feel free to share a link. I'd love to learn from your insights.

Jeanne Damoff loves beautiful stories, whether they're told with words, images, paint, music, or movement. She also loves to laugh. (You know the drill. Points, people. Earn them.)

Comments

[michael snyder]

Well done!

And some beautiful photos. Are they yours?

Mike

[susan fish]

Jeanne, You are so brilliant with this that I got chills. You offer a brand new (to me) perspective and I'm completely intrigued. I also love the cross-pollination of different art forms, but for me it has tended to result in either intuitive inspiration or just general feeding of my creative side. I like the idea of deliberately considering what works in another medium and how we apply that. I tend to be most inspired by music and sculpture so I need to think about how it actually works and what I want to take from it. Thanks for this!

[Jeanne Damoff]

Thanks, Mike! Yes, these are all my photos. I'm glad you like them.

Thank you, Susan. I'm so pleased this concept opened new ways of thinking for you! Can't wait to hear the results of your investigation. :)

[Jennifer Lyn King]

Wow, Jeanne!

Thank you for writing this post, and inviting further thought on a subject I love! You have illustrated all of your points so well with your own photography. (I especially love the movement in the photograph under #10, the first.)

My favorite photographs usually are the result of this unnamed method :0) : I step back as far from the subject as possible, then zoom in and focus only on the subject. The surroundings blur out and make for a crisp image for the subject. (a combination, perhaps, of your #1 and #2) An example: http://bit.ly/aBLPBE

Thank you again, Jeanne, for such an excellent piece on Art inspiring Art. I love it!

[Jennifer@GDWJ]

Jeanne! Wow. You're gifted with a pen AND a camera, I see ...

I've been playing around with a camera for just a few months, trying to figure out how to operate the contraption and make a good photo or two. :-) This rookie appreciated your advice. I'm inspired!

[Heather]

I love this. Sometimes butt-in-chair time is actually butt-at-museum time or butt-at-concert (or theater or camping or family barbecue [yes, there is even art at a family barbecue!]) time.

[Jeanne Damoff]

Thanks for your kind words, JLK, and for all the ways you add beauty to the world through your art. Nice shot! I like the sense of distance and motion, the changing horizontal layers of blue from water to mountains to sky, the subjects' backs, their varying heights, and their matching hats! Now I'm curious. How would you distill that image into a one-sentence writing tip? :)

Thanks, Jennifer@GDWJ! "Playing around" is the best way to get to know your camera and your photographic tastes. So glad you're inspired. Enjoy!

I agree, Heather. If we're never in our chairs, writing won't happen, but if we're never out of them, the writing that happens may get a bit stale. (I have no doubt your presence at a family barbecue would make it a feast for the imagination.)

[Patricia (Pollywog Creek)]

Beautiful, Jeanne. What a gifted wedding photographer you are. I want to linger on each photo, tracing the angles and studying the expressions. I long to be a better portrait photographer, to preserve the feeling of the moment on lovely and charming faces. There's that element of mystery in photography and writing that captures our attention and draws us into the story. Good ones, like yours, also stir our senses. I look at these photos and like good prose I can smell the roses, feel the warmth of the sun through my veil, hear the rice as it rains onto the walkway and taste the communion wine. Thanks you for this lovely post, Jeanne.

[Nicole]

Love displayed. In art.

[Jeanne Damoff]

Thanks, Patricia and Nicole.

Love your description of the mystery, Patricia. You evoke the same response in me with your nature photographs.

[Jennifer King]

Hi Jeanne--

I'm back (thanks for letting me know you left a question... a difficult one at that). Hmm.

One sentence cue for writing: Sharp focus on where action and contrasts clash, and only hint at the blurred surroundings-- for the focus point is where the story is most powerful.

What do you think? Truthfully, this is how I like to write: less descriptive detail and strong lead active elements.

Thank you, Jeanne, for sharing your gifts with all of us.

Forever your fan :0)

Jennifer

[Jeanne Damoff]

Good job, Jennifer. You get a gold star. :) You could even go with your summary: (Use) less descriptive detail and (focus on) strong lead active elements. That's great writing advice. Thanks!

The fandom goes both ways.
Love, Jeanne

[A Simple Country Girl]

For me, as a writer, a photographer and a daughter of God, it's all about the often-overlooked details...

Frankly, I don't have anything to add to your strategies. Perhaps you should write a book about the marriage of photography and writing. What a beautiful love story you have shared.

(I am ever so grateful for finding you. Thank you for your kind words at Kadish's place today. What an unexpected, yet most wonderful gift!)

I have so much to learn.

Blessings.