  Poetry
This week: Poetry in Photography Edited by: THANKFUL SONALI Library Class!  
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She takes photos, she sketches - and she writes poetry -
about the same subject.
Her formal education was in Astrophysics.
Here's a presentation by a multi-disciplinary artist. |
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Hello Readers!
I attended a presentation by Ms. Arati Kumar-Rao, who is a professional photographer. She also sketches and writes poetry about the things she photographs. She talked about how each medium has its own characteristics, and how, looking at a subject in an inter-disciplinary manner, one gets more insights into it. The various forms of art seem to speak to each other, and to the artist, and one gets more out of the whole experience. She also said that every work of art is the artist’s view – the artist has chosen what to depict and (equally importantly) what to leave out. In answer to a question, she said that, should a person want to explore all forms of art and not ‘specialise’ in one, that’s fine – because of the kind of overall perspective it gives. “You may take a little longer to reach a height with your work, but when you do, the view will be that much better.”
Arati has a master's degree in Astrophysics, and explained how she always keeps in mind that by observing something, you change its behaviour. "Whether it's a person or an animal, the minute you pick up a camera, you change its behaviour. You don't know how it behaves when you are not watching. You're photographing its reaction to you, rather than what it does when it is undisturbed."
Here are excerpts from the presentation, partly as direct transcript and partly paraphrased. While it’s not about ‘poetry’ per se, the poet can find many nuggets of information and inspiration in what she says, because there’s a poet and artist who is doing the photography!
Ms. Arati Kumar-Rao, photographer, artist, poet.
I thought I’d share the wonder that I experience at work every day. You never expect what you’re going to find. That is what keeps me going. The title of this presentation is “The Sound of a Hundred Elephants Running.” That, in recent years, has been the biggest surprise for me. I’ve spent a large part of the last two years in Sri Lanka, getting to know the wild Asian Elephants there, it’s a long term project I’m working on.
She went on to talk about an incident in Sri Lanka – she was photographing a herd of about a hundred elephants, peacefully grazing. Then, she got a text message on her mobile phone, and turned her back on the elephants, to answer it. She was about two minutes, answering it. She turned again, and looked at the spot where the elephants had been. There were no elephants. She wondered where they’d got to and looked around – to find they’d moved in the other direction, and were now where she had been facing to answer the text message.
The sound of a hundred elephants running – was – utter silence.
She hadn’t noticed them moving and facing her again!
You’ll find many pictures of mother-and-baby elephants here. I am fascinated by how good the mothers are. Each matriarch adopts not only her own offspring but every youngster and adolescent in the herd. They live so beautifully together, it brings tears to your eyes to see them interact.
I am also doing a project on the desert. When we think of a desert, we think of a dry wasteland. We think 'barren'. I've been there almost every month in the last year and what I've found is that there is a huge amount of water under the desert and the people who live there know how to find it, know how to use it and it's wonderful to actually discover that. A lot of us in the cities don't understand people who have been born and brought up in the desert. For them, water is sacred. It's not something that comes out of a tap. It's not something that you 'use'. It's something that you actually interact with. For them, it's a being. And for them, collecting water out of a well is something that they only do as much as they need. They take it back home, and they know that the water's going to seep through the rocks and re-fill the well. So when they come back in the evening, there's going to be water there. It's wonderful to hear them speak because it's not at all materialistic. It's not to do with usage or resources or any of that - it's their life. They say 'water is our life'. It's not something you consider different from you. If that's not there, you don't live. I want to show the desert in a way that it is not normally seen. Go beyond the dunes and the sand and to show how the desert is a living being, and how we, in our infinite 'non-wisdom' are destroying it mindlessly, without knowing what it is.
She showed us a photo of a tree in the desert, and how desert dwellers would know - where there's a tree, there's water. Thus, there were a lot of wells around. There was a photo of the sun rising through the grass in the desert.
Grass in the desert is an extremely important thing. Because the grass, the way it holds the desert sand, keeps it from shifting, is vital. All the pastoral people and goats and sheep use that grass, it's what sustains them. They revere it. When we drive through it, we say 'this is just wasteland.'
A sandstorm is a very integral part of the desert. It is a harbinger of the monsoon. So people look forward to it. Once it starts, it is followed by the rain. And the rain comes very interestingly in the desert. It comes in five-kilometre strips. It's very fascinating
The other thing that really interests me when I do photography is the ephemeral nature of everything. Things change, they die, they move on. Things decay. There is loss, there is pain. I'm not sure if I've actually found a way to do it beautifully, or do it well, but I really want to try and capture that decay, that desolation - that feeling of loss, through nature, looking at things in nature. (Showing a photo of feathers) I came across a place where there were just these feathers lying there. Obviously, something had passed on there. This is what I'm exploring.
(Showing a photo of a dead tree). This place was interesting. There were dust-spots on my camera, but I deliberately didn't wipe them off - because it's part of the picture.
(Showing a photo of a shiny something in the mud) This is a footprint of a man, but it's filled with oil. I found it on the banks of a once very beautiful river which is now completely polluted - so much so that people can no longer bathe in it, they get rashes, thanks to the industries around.
In abstracts from nature, I try to take away context. I try to show just the beauty without the context. (Showing a photo of shimmering looking lines) This is a plantation on the banks of that polluted river - the reflection of the trees in the river.
(Showing a photo of something that looks like dots) These are reeds in water.
She closed with slides of her sketches. Sketching helps her slow down, as compared to photography. While sketching elephants, she realised how important their presence is to the land. Their poop, for example is great fertiliser! She had a sketch of a family of elephants, which brought out how much they care for each other, and another sketch of a tree to emphasise the importance of the roots.
Her conclusion was from a poem she wrote:
Stories.
Yours, mine. Many.
Many, many stories.
Well, readers, I hope I managed to convey some of my enchantment on hearing the talk, to you!
Thanks for listening!
- Sonali |
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Omigoodness! I haven't done a Poetry NL since the first one I ever did! "Poetry Newsletter (January 27, 2010)"
Here's the feedback for that, from a loooooong time ago! 
Fyn 
Your first newsletter was fun to read-
when a happy break was what I need-
ed to make my day
but I think I'm glad they all aren't this way!
But you got me thinking
like getting a ticket from a cop nonblinking
telling you you had excessive speed
and here's a fine for your dastardly deed.
Or having to call the dog (in rhyme)
would seriously take a ton of time!
Or telling the kids to clean a room--
hadn't they ever heard of a broom?
A mixture of prose and poetry
Really seems the best to me!
But I LOVE your newsletter! It's divine!
Excellent and really fine!
fyn
Leger~ 
LOL Charming newsletter Sonali, great job.
runningwolf04
This was highly creative! And honestly, it's made me want to write my midterm report for my Philosophy class in poetry! I wonder what that would do for my grade... I have a feeling it would be really GOOD or really BAD! 
Great first NL, and I can't wait to read more of them from you! 
Christina~Thanks StoryMaster
Hello Sonali. What a lovely newsletter for a beginning one!
Loved the innovative topic and poem. 
Acme
LOL! Love the newsletter, Sonali. What a smashing entrance I particularly like the bicuspid/cupid rhyme. Ace!
mariahbforre
Sonali, the newsletter was a blast!
Hope that you come back really fast! -Mariah
Ẃeβ࿚ẂỉԎḈĥ 
Lovely first Poetry Newsletter, sonali! The thoughts, the poem, the picks--all aces!
Thanks, BTW, for highlighting my poem, "Totem Wolf". I really appreciate it! - WW
DRSmith 
Good day Sonali, and I must say, your clever, "what if" intro of living life in poetic verse induced a smile to parallel yours. Can one imagine what it would be like to happen upon a cabal of celebrated odists of yore upon entering a local pub, and of overhearing how such jive and retaliatory gibberish might be bantered about if discussing current events? The smile widened when recalling my warped way of "what if" thinking, when applying Olde English nurseries to modern day headlines? Not touting, but if anyone cares for humorous peek, try: "THE NEW YORKSHIRE TIMES"
Question - Are there any interdisciplinary poets out there? Tell us something about your work! |
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Poetry: January 15, 2014 Issue [#6098]
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