LIB491
Through a Planetary Lens: Writing with Photographs
Writing and photography offer an intriguing partnership: what can one media do that the other cannot? Which is more realistic? How can they be combined to re-imagine a culture of place and a sense of belonging? We will examine a wide range of writers who view their subjects through a multifaceted or "planetary lens" to help answer these questions. You will learn how and why photographs are important to these writers and how you can apply their techniques to your own work. Students are encouraged to bring a selection of their own images for each week for in-class writing exercises.
Note: This course is suitable for writers at all levels, at any stage in a piece of creative non-fiction writing, including profile, memoir and reportage.
This course is offered in person.
A $50 discount is available during check-out for adults 55+.
Overview
Location: Vancouver
Duration: 6 weeks
Tuition: $180 plus GST
Can be applied to:
Liberal Arts for 55+ Certificate
Upcoming Offerings
- Mon, Jan 12, 11:30 a.m. - 1:20 p.m. Pacific Time (class/lecture)
- Mon, Jan 19, 11:30 a.m. - 1:20 p.m. Pacific Time (class/lecture)
- Mon, Jan 26, 11:30 a.m. - 1:20 p.m. Pacific Time (class/lecture)
- Mon, Feb 2, 11:30 a.m. - 1:20 p.m. Pacific Time (class/lecture)
- Mon, Feb 9, 11:30 a.m. - 1:20 p.m. Pacific Time (class/lecture)
- Mon, Feb 23, 11:30 a.m. - 1:20 p.m. Pacific Time (class/lecture)
Course outline
- Week 1: Planetary storytelling
How do you write with photographs? We will examine how to embed photographs in your stories, engage with them metaphorically (thinking of your eye as a camera lens), or even write photographically, where your writing style evokes the remove of a photographic image. Audrey Goodman’s book A Planetary Lens will introduce us to the Laguna Pueblo writer, Leslie Marmon Silko, who intertwines photography, words and history to reimagine her New Mexico landscape. - Week 2: Writing photographs
We’ll consider how the French writer, Annie Ernaux, creates a series of “verbal snapshots” in her writing to offer a new vision of her local town and herself as a writer. We will also consider her historical influences, including French novelist Marcel Proust. - Week 3: Photo-lingual memoir
We will look at the work of B.C.-based writer Danielle Geller, whose celebrated memoir, Dog Flowers, engages her mother’s photographic archive to challenge collective memory. - Week 4: Photographic ‘notes’
Toronto-based writer Christina Sharpe offers inspiration in Ordinary Notes, a series of 248 vignettes that together create a multivalent portrait of everyday Black life. - Week 5: Photography and the city
In Istanbul: Memories and the City, Orhan Pamuk entwines words, photographs and objects to offer an alternative history of his city that is part travel essay and part memoir. We will follow him there. - Week 6: Photographic archive
We will explore how the photographic historian, Helen Ennis, draws on the photographic archive of the modernist Australian photographer, Olive Cotton, to reconsider her legacy.
What you will learn
By the end of the course, you should be able to:
- Identify how the relationship between words and photographs has evolved
- Describe how writers use words and photographs to tell their stories
- Discuss the ways you can create photo-texts to reimagine a culture of place
- Apply these insights to your own writing with a photograph of your choice
How you will learn
- Lectures
- Participation in discussions in class and on Canvas
- In-class writing exercises to share in class for peer feedback
- Supplementary academic and non-academic books, photographs and online resources accessed through Canvas
- Reflective essay (applicable only to certificate students)
Learning Materials
No textbook is required. We will provide all course materials online.
Technical Requirements
Handouts and other course resources will be available on Canvas, SFU’s online learning system.
To access the resources, you should be comfortable with:
- Using everyday software such as browsers, email and social media
- Navigating a website by clicking on links and finding pages in a menu
- Downloading and opening PDF documents