People make photos and read poetry.
That was my immediate conclusion the other evening in Barnes & Noble, as I went back and forth between the poetry and the digital photography sections. Such a difference in titles! The photo section was all about how to take better photos but there was very little in the poetry section about how to make better poems. At the same time, all the books of photos were over in the art section, and there were few of them. There were lots of books of poetry to be found.
Often, when photographers look at photos, they want to know how the photos were made. This is seldom a question poets ask when reading poems. They let the poem affect them. Their understanding chews over the words like it was a special meal.
Look at PhotographyBlog.com. The navigation headings are Camera Reviews, Buying Guide, Lens Reviews, News, and How To. As you might guess, the Buying Guide is not about how to buy photos, or even how to buy equipment, but simply equipment for sale. If you dig, you can find books for sale, some of which talk about how to take better photos without buying better equipment. If you are looking for the photographers’ work, look elsewhere!
In short, it seems that poetry is written so other people will read it, but photographs are taken so other people will ask you how you did it.
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