[AggieDad]

I was looking at some poems today and ran across this one. I hope you enjoy it.

THE PHOTOGRAPHER

of the myriad of objects

crammed into the scenery

he moves in on one particular setting

selecting a focal length lens best to accomplish it

framing out all superfluous detail

isolating this singular composition

from the rest of the universe

modifying the ambient sunlight

filtering it through an intervening sheet of muslin

irising open the lens to deliberately soften foreground features
cropping the image more critically during the final printing

and burning the image to bring out and suppress tonalities 
so that for one graphic moment

if he is truly successful

the spectator will view the world

as seen through his eyes

~ Alec Kowalczyk

The website tells us that Alec "is a native of South Troy, New York. He is a civil engineer by day
with an interest in the mechanics of poetry."

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Last edited by AggieDad; 10-07-2021 at 03:03 PM. Reason: added website link

[Paul the Sunman]

... haven't tried the muslin.

[AggieDad]

... haven't tried the muslin.

There was always the story (true or apocryphal?) that as the years marched on that they filmed the actress Doris Day through muslin to suppress wrinkles on her face.

[boriscleto]

When I think of muslin all I can think of is a song written by Wally Page…

This is the day the fisherman likes and so do I

when the rain puts a shine on the chestnut spikes and Curlews cry,

the Nightingale sings her best,

we’ll drink a pint in Hamilton’s Rest

The girl I love wore a muslin dress

the fishermen dream of the sun in the west

and So Do I

[K-Three]

He is a civil engineer by day

Sounds like me,

Nice imagery in that poem, but Alec must photograph too, too much detail of process for a non-photographer

What is about photography and science/engineering? Seems to be a pretty common crossing,
Though I did it backwards from most, tried photography as a career first, then got an engineering degree.
My wife has an art/photography degree, but mostly does her fine art without a camera now. She still does some photography, for reference usually, but she refers to all our cameras as Mine, not hers or ours.

[Dartmoor Dave]

I thought I'd have a go at an ode of my own:

There once was a keen photo snapper
Whose cool gear made him look very dapper
But his snaps got derision
For their poor composition
So he flushed them all right down the crapper

[slartibartfast01]

I thought I'd have a go at an ode of my own:

There once was a keen photo snapper
Whose cool gear made him look very dapper
But his snaps got derision
For their poor composition
So he flushed them all right down the crapper

That is closer to a poem than the one in the first post .

[gatorguy]

I just last week finally received the 60" by 5 yard roll of unbleached muslin I had ordered. I'll be using it as a scrim but haven't yet tried it.
So yeah, maybe a little resemblance.

[Apet-Sure]

I was looking at some poems today

???? Am I missing something? Nothing rhymes and there's no repeating rhythmic meter that I can detect. Seems more like an....essay?

There once was a man named Kevin [me]
who stayed up late past eleven
without enough sleep
his thoughts weren't deep
so next day he couldn't do rhymes

[AggieDad]

???? Am I missing something? Nothing rhymes and there's no repeating rhythmic meter that I can detect. Seems more like an....essay?

Ah @Apet-Sure, there are many kinds of poetry – haiku, limericks, sonnets, odes, free verse, and many others. Not every poem rhymes every two lines.

[crazy4oldcars]

I vaguely remember a high school lit teacher describing, with examples, a form of poetry that didn't rhyme. It was 40-ish years ago, so vague is as good as it is going to get.
Also, if you're expecting a limerick or poem from me, you're doomed for disappointment. Them people writing poetry mostly seem to want me to figure out what they mean by what they put on the paper. I'm too damned literal minded to want to go through all of that. Anything deeper than Poe or Frost, and I quickly lose interest.

[slartibartfast01]

Ah @Apet-Sure, there are many kinds of poetry – haiku, limericks, sonnets, odes, free verse, and many others. Not every poem rhymes every two lines.

Surely more prose than poetry.

[Madaboutpix]

Hm. Apart from the fact that I don't consider myself remotely as heroic as the photographer depicted, there is little lyrical about the poem. And, mind you, I'm not talking about rhyme; free verse poems can be powerful indeed. It's just that this one lacks lyrical words, or ways of expressing things in original, unexpected, revealing terms. It's a bit as if Tony Northrop had tried to write a poem about a hero photographer.

But maybe that's just me, I'm sure you meant well by sharing it. As a poem, and as a description of myself or anyone like me (your central thread question), it just doesn't do it for me.

[Lord Lucan]

I don't see that as a poem, no matter how perceptive the content might be. It is a short essay with superfluous line breaks.

I don't mind poems that don't rhyme, but in adddition to any contained message there should be beauty in the form of the words. This may be as rhyme, alliteration, rhythm or possibly something else. I see nothing of that there.

[slartibartfast01]

I don't see that as a poem, no matter how perceptive the content might be. It is a short essay with superfluous line breaks.

I don't mind poems that don't rhyme, but in adddition to any contained message there should be beauty in the form of the words. This may be as rhyme, alliteration, rhythm or possibly something else. I see nothing of that there.

Compare and contrast
https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/war-photographer/