NoPOEM (2008)
In March of 2008 I had the good fortune to teach a Photographic Essay course in New Orleans, Louisiana. The New Orleans Travel and Study program through Ai Minnesota was on it's pilot expedition. In the spare moments between guiding my students along with fellow instructors Rich Ryan and Colleen Mullins, I was able to make these images, which I have titled NoPoem.
An excerpt from Italo Calvino's "Six Memos for the Next Millenium" sums up my photographic approach to this project:
"For example, Giacomo Leopardi maintained that the more vague and imprecise language is, the more poetic it becomes. I might mention in passing that as far as I know Italian is the only language in which the word vago (vague) also means "lovely, attractive." Starting out from the original meaning of "wandering," the word vago still carries an idea of movement and mutability, which in Italian is associated both with uncertainty and indefiniteness and with gracefulness and pleasure."
The New Orleans Travel and Study program is still going strong today under the direction of Becky Olstad and Colleen Mullins.
An excerpt from Italo Calvino's "Six Memos for the Next Millenium" sums up my photographic approach to this project:
"For example, Giacomo Leopardi maintained that the more vague and imprecise language is, the more poetic it becomes. I might mention in passing that as far as I know Italian is the only language in which the word vago (vague) also means "lovely, attractive." Starting out from the original meaning of "wandering," the word vago still carries an idea of movement and mutability, which in Italian is associated both with uncertainty and indefiniteness and with gracefulness and pleasure."
The New Orleans Travel and Study program is still going strong today under the direction of Becky Olstad and Colleen Mullins.
