POETRY

Annie Liebovitz

A poem about photography, prompted by a photographer

Pinhole self portrait by author (Ondu camera)

In this photograph
you see what I let you see
maybe you see me
or maybe you see a town
or it could be a landscape

What you see is truth
what you see is also lies
a trick of the light
rendered here now in silver
floating in an emulsion

That is not my house
I’ve never met that woman
Those kids were all mean
The dogs’ owner yelled at me
Later, that couple broke up

I pick my moments
constructing reality
This is my version
I cropped out all the bad parts
I want to show you beauty

And I pick my words
painting verbal pictures
the exact same way

Several weeks ago, I read Charlie Naebeck’s article about Annie Leibovitz — check it out below