Poerty Response on the poem "Photography" by Nikki Giovanni

PHOTOGRAPHY
by Nikki Giovanni

the eye we are told
is a camera
but the film is the heart
not the brain
and our hands joining
those that reach
develop the product

it's easy sitting in the sun
to forget that cold exists
let alone envelops
the lives of people
it's easy sitting in the sun
to forget the ice and ravages
of winter yet
there are those who would have
no other season
it's always easy when thinking
we have the best to assume
others covet it
yet surf or sea each has
its lovers and its meaning
for love

watching the red sun bleed
into the ocean
one thinks of the beauty that fire brings
if the eye is a camera and the film is the heart
then the photo assistant is god

     Cameras are a very personal item for most of the people who own them, including me. They preserve some of the greatest moments of our lives, whether they are good or bad, that our brains are unable to. But after reading the poem “Photography”, by Nikki Giovanni, I realized how similar we are to a camera and how similar photography is to life. I was able to realize these similarities with the help of all the literary devices that the poet incorporated into this poem. The poet uses a lot of metaphors, symbolism, and imagery to illuminate these similarities and encourage the reader to enjoy their life as well.

     The poet uses metaphors and symbolism to show how similar a camera is to a person and how both are able to capture life in a similar way. She first says “it's easy sitting in the sun / to forget that cold exists / let alone envelops / the lives of people”( Giovanni 8-11). Here, the poet is saying how when we are enjoying a specific moment in life, whether it’s in person or through a picture, we forget about all of the things that we think are bad about life and in the world. The poet then continues on to say “yet surf or sea each has / its lovers and its meaning / for love” (Giovanni 19-22). This shows that there are many lovers of surf and sea, humans as well as cameras, since they both love and help to capture and preserve surf and they both enjoy it as well.

     Throughout the poem, the poet also uses symbolism with imagery to help set the mood of the poem as well as teach the readers that we should enjoy life for what it is. She starts out stating that “our hands joining / those that reach / develop the product” (Giovanni 5-7). By saying this, the poet’s message is that our life is already made for us so we should just enjoy it and live it to the fullest for both the good and the bad moments since they both help to define who we are. Then at the end, she ends the final stanza of the poem by saying “watching the red sun bleed / into the ocean” (Giovanni 23-24). This helps the reader transition to the time of the sunset and helps them to imagine the end of a day at the beach, which she is also using as a way to end the poem.

     The poet sums up the poem at last with metaphors that relate us to cameras. She says that the “the film is the heart” (Giovanni 26), meaning the film feels and has the ability to enjoy every moment of life that it captures, just like the human. The last stanza of the poem, which is “then the photo assistant is god” (Giovanni 28), shows that the poet believes in god and also believes that god already knows what had/is/will happen, and, in a way, controls us.

     There are many things I learned from this poem. I learned that life is like a photo album that’s different for everyone. That every moment has a different meaning to every person and everyone has different reactions to the same things. Our definitions for good, bad, sadness, joy, love, and hate are all different. Yet we all love life the same and we should try to enjoy it to the fullest and for all, good and bad, small and big as well. These are just some the most important things that this poem has to teach to it’s reader’s.

 

Works Cited

 Giovanni, Nikki. "PHOTOGRAPHY". Poetry Packet. Print.