Words, Words, Words

I continue to discover new words that I had never heard of. It makes me think that I should have put more effort into expanding my vocabulary over the years but then that may have detracted from my visual endeavors. So much of life is a balancing act. A set of scales that measure experiences might help to keep some equanimity and balance. But we usually have priorities and for me it has been to create photographs, although lately I have been reading more which has resulted in my collection of words that were unknown to me.

In addition to stereoblindness (not able to see in 3D), prosopagnosia (face blindness) and erlebniskunst (art of experience), my latest addition is the word ekphrasis which is defined as writing inspired by art. Art can be in the form of a painting, photograph, film, sculpture or even a dance performance. A good example is my previous post regarding my photograph “Repose” and the accompanying description written by a gallery curator. Another example is my post “Olympia by Manet” and my writing about how I reacted to seeing the painting in person.

I always gave my photography students an assignment to select a photograph that interests them and to write about it. They had to provide a description (what they see), an interpretation (what they thought it was about), and an evaluation (whether they liked it or not and why). I was always surprised how insightful they were about the image they selected and the project served as a great teaching tool about art appreciation.

The next time you visit a museum or art gallery and have a strong reaction to a work of art that is emotionally moving you would be experiencing erlebniskunst. And if you go home and write about it that would be ekphrasis.