Abstract
Photographs, writing and travel have been inextricably linked since the dawn of the postcard. A photo says, “I was here” and a poem asks “where and who was I?” By bringing the two art forms together, these book-length explorations—of Antarctica, of the parallels between dust-bowl migrants and today’s California, of Japanese American incarceration, of the aftermath of a brother’s suicide, and of post-1848 violences against Mexican/Mexican Americans—show how poem and image dynamically converse.
Shifts in printing technology and new media have transformed the way writers engage via images, opening new avenues for artistic exploration—with photography at the forefront. This panel includes writers who present words and images in dynamic, non-illustrative conversation: poets who collaborate with photographers; poets who write about photographers; and poets who are photographers. We will explore the role of our work (and the work of photography) in documentation, aesthetics, and witness. After the moderator introduces the panel topic, each poet will introduce themselves then proceed to share for approximately 5-10 minutes (using visual and audio presentation formats). Poets will then pose questions to one another for conversation before opening for audience discussion and participation.