The waste land was a collaborative work, if we take in consideration al the notes that Ezra Pound added to the manuscript that changed the original poem in dramatic ways, if it were not for Ezra The Waste Land would have been a very different poem, this was made clear when Valerie Eliot published the facsimile of the poem with notes and the comments scribbled by Eliot’s friend.
So Why Photos?
It is not only a play on one of the poem’s verses. If the poem were not to be considered a collaborative work, it is true that Eliot was clearly influenced by Ezra and his poetical ideas, expressed in the Imagist statement of intent. The movement renewed English poetry in the beginning of the XX century. Its ideology is responsible for the fragmentation and the juxtaposition of images leading to its visual concentration.
Imagism was daughter to the scientific advancements of the century: Freud’s interpretations of dreams and the advent of Cinema to popular culture: Before pictures could talk, people started talking in pictures. Dreaming and filming are very close. Who has never been questioned whether he/she dreams in colour or in black and white? That’s because, before the alphabet was invented we were already talking in pictures: ideograms that are nothing but drawings of the thing represented.
And how?
How this translates to this series of images? They are to represent each a verse or an image of the waste land. Following the basic guidelines if Imaginism:
- 1. Direct treatment of the verse, images whether “found” or “crafted” refer directly to an image that is quite clear, o quite suggestive.
- 2. To use absolutely no snap that does not contribute to the portrayal of the verse.
- 3. As regarding to rhythm: not all the verses could be photographed, o course. This could take ages, and lots of space. A constant process of selection was carried out, since the idea was first formed. It has changed over the time, and it can be still considered a work in progress.
But Photoshop?
Photoshop is used only when is thought that it would add a little something to express the tone of the poem: TWL is melancholic, and pessimistic. To me this doesn’t mean that the photos should be dark or less sharp, only when needed.