The Roman poet Horace said that 'a picture is a poem without words'. Of course he would not have known about photography, living as he did over two thousand years ago. But I’m sure if he had, he would have looked for poems in photos.
-
-
I wonder whether images ‘choose’ photographers? I think in a way they do, in the sense that any keen photographer will put themselves in the best position for potential pictures to choose them. They know where to go, where (and importantly) how to look.
-
If colour is the language of dreams, what about the many names we use to describe colours? Yes, we can say blue, red, green, yellow, pink, and everyone will have a mental image of each colour as it is named. But will we all have the same image? There are so many reds, so many greens, so many pinks … You get my drift!
-
The master of word invention was Lewis Carroll whose works are liberally scattered with these portmanteau words, that is, words that combine two different words to make something new.
-
It’s Pick a Word time again. Another month and another set of five words from Paula to illustrate. Always challenging, always fun! And as always I've trawled my archives to find some words that I hope fit her choices.
-
Irving Penn defined a good photograph as, 'one that communicates a fact, touches the heart and leaves the viewer a changed person for having seen it'. If I can do even one of those three things with an image, I’m satisfied!
-
Jean De La Bruyere, French philosopher, said that, 'We come too late to say anything which has not been said already', but I am hopeful that I am better late than never.
-
'When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.' I find it hard to believe that I haven’t used that quote from Ansel Adams before!
-
Sometimes a few words can enhance a viewer’s understanding of an image. After all, what else are captions for if not to explain?
-
What is a good word? Is it a word that has a positive impact, which I’m sure was Herbert’s definition of the phrase? Or is it simply a word we like, one that is pleasing for its meaning, its sound or both?
