The Wordsmiths Project Journal

I am often asked what I mean when I say that my photography and writing inform each other.  Photography, storytelling, and, yes, life… it’s all about what we see, how we convey it to others and whether we can make it meaningful.

When I look at the world through the lens of my camera, I see so much more. My field of vision might be more limited, but everything becomes more focused, limned with greater clarity of shadows and light. Life resolves into aesthetic patterns and colors, giving definition and meaning, and making the ordinary everyday more noteworthy and memorable. It’s as though my lens has the magic ability to see through to the essentials of a moment or of a personality, to tell me story that I might have missed if it weren’t for my camera’s eye view.

I often think about my photography when I’m writing… visualizing what I want my readers to see, focusing my words as I would my camera lens. To go even further, I believe that being a photographer makes me a better writer, just as being a writer strengthens my photography.

Here are some of the things I’ve learned about writing, and about life, by watching the world through my camera lens:

• Stay focused on the central subject, but don’t lose sight of what surrounds it. The context (the background) of a picture (or a story) often gives it weight and meaning.

• Don’t stay stubbornly rooted in place. Explore different perspectives, even if it means getting down on the earth or climbing mountains.

• Crop (edit) until you’ve zeroed in on the essentials and have removed anything that might distract from what you want the viewer (reader) to see.

• Pay close attention not only to what the light illuminates, but also what lurks in the shadows and how it changes how you feel and think about the picture (or story).

• Small details, carefully captured, can often tell a whole story.

• If you’re going to lie, make it a glorious lie.

Because The Wordsmiths Project is a photo project, please feel free to email me (or put in a comment below) your questions about photography, as well as about publishing. 

I’m thrilled to report that Book Expo, the publishing industry’s primary trade show in the U.S., has acknowledged The Wordsmiths Project, and the work we are doing to get the word out about the Writers Emergency Assistance Fund (WEAF). BEA has put a link to The Wordsmiths Project on the BEA Cares page of their Website. And they are providing us with display space at Book Expo, which is at New York City’s Javits Center this May 31-June 3.

The WEAF provides emergency grants to help professional writers in crisis to continue to be writers. (While the WEAF is run by the American Society of Journalists & Authors, grant recipients don’t have to be members of ASJA.) The whole idea of dedicating The Wordsmiths Project to the WEAF was to raise the publishing industry’s awareness of the important work the WEAF does. I am also donating the proceeds from The Wordsmiths Project receptions, exhibits and sales of pictures to WEAF. If you wish to donate directly to the WEAF, please use the link at the bottom of every page on this Website.

I am very pleased to have The Wordsmiths Project receive the recognition of BEA. I know it will help make the publishing industry more aware of the WEAF — and hopefully will get people in the industry behind WEAF’s work.