Alicia and I have been talking for some time now about doing a joint project-- poetry and photography--and now we're just waiting for the details to fall together. Namely, we're waiting for my chapbook to arrive from the publisher and her to finish shooting and framing. (The publisher says the printer is running two weeks behind, so that means they should ship at the end of next week!)
Alicia is the photographer who took my portrait for the book cover. I got to know her and her work when we had offices beside each other at the Heritage Center. Her photographs struck me because of how she captured the everyday beauty of people and landscapes. She honors the past of these mountains with the technology of the present and with an eye of someone truly paying attention. (I think there are a lot of similarities between poets and photographers -- images, story, framing, cropping.) I knew I wanted her to "make my picture" for the book. Additionally, she is pure Yancey County: a love for her art, horses, family, outdoors and the mountains.
So I issued her a cautious challenge... would she want to try to photograph what images came to her after reading through my collection of poems, since my poems are about moving to the mountains? She agreed.
Here are a few sneak peeks she shared with me:
Check out more of her work at aliciajophoto.com
And stay tuned for when our joint show will be! I'm excited.
1 comment:
Britt, I am a fellow Alumni of Alicia's. I graduated the year after she did from the same program. I saw in her then a rare talent. I've often said I'm glad she is in Yancy county and me in Avery that way we don't compete for clients because I would lose!
I am looking forward to seeing what the finished book will be like. Congrats and best wishes for success!
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