Memoir-Writing Exercise Using a Photo with Chris

Hello. Hey out there.  It’s Chris here from Firefly and we’re going to do some writing today from a photo – some memoir writing from a photo, so I would love just to make sure before we get started, that you have a picture.  It should be close-up.  I don’t want it in your mind’s eye.  I don’t want it across the room.  I want it, you know, right in front of you, whether it’s on your phone, or on the computer, or printed.  And ideally, ideally, I want you to be in this picture.  I know it probably cuts down your collection a bit, but ah, there’s just so much more that we can do with a picture when you’re in it.  So, yeah grab that.  Make sure you’ve got that.  And make sure you’ve also got something to take notes with while we go through this.  We’re going to take notes from the picture for quite awhile, and then I am going to leave you to do some writing from the picture.  So, as usual, that can be pen and paper.  That can be on the computer, just whatever works best for you. 

Once you’ve got all that together we’re going to get started.  There’s two kind of levels to this exercise, and they speak to the two reasons that I love using photos for memoir writing.  So the first level that we’re going to go through is everything that we can see in a picture. And this is, this is the obvious stuff.  You know this is what we think we are seeing when we look at a picture.  We’re going to look at all kinds of details. The longer we look at a picture the more we see in it.  But, then we’re going to switch focus, and look at what we don’t see; what this picture allows us to remember even though we can’t see it, what this picture allows us to intuit, what this picture allows us to imagine.  So these are kind of the two layers of consciousness that I think we’re working with when we look at a photo, and that we’re working with when we look at our past.  There’s what’s obvious and then there’s what do we fill in around that - the facts, and everything that holds those facts together into a story.  So, if that all sounds a little abstract, do not worry.  It’s all going to make sense.  I just kind of wanted to lay the groundwork a little bit.  This first series of lists we’re going to make is going to fall under the category of “What I see is…”, and then the second set of lists we’re going to make is going to fall under the category of “What I don’t see is… and it’s all going to work together into just a tremendous amount of attention and awareness that we’re bringing to this picture, and this moment that this picture was taken.  That’s what we’re going to write from.

So first of all, just jot down who is in the picture, and also what’s in the picture.  What are the major elements of this picture?  What are the objects you can see?  What’s in the background? Just take a second to jot those down.

OK, I am going to keep going, and I just want to let you know, you can always put me on “pause”.  If you have a picture with 40 people in it, you may already be scrambling to keep up, so feel free to “pause” any time you need to.  And also feel free to make your notes very brief.  This isn’t the writing itself.  This is just the first stage.

OK, so we’ve got who is in the picture.  We’ve got what’s in the picture.  Let’s go further into the what and look for what are the smaller, little physical details in this picture that you didn’t notice at first, but if you look closely… What else is in the picture?  What’s maybe even almost imperceptible, but you can see it there? 

OK, now coming back to the person, or the people, how are they positioned?  So if there is more than one person, who is touching who?  Who is a little separate?  What do you see in their positions, or in their position if it’s one person?  What kind of shapes do the people make?  If you were going to sketch this, where would you start?  What are the rough lines? 

 And then what colours do you see?  First of all, what are the main colours?  What are the dominant colours in this picture? And then, assuming it’s not a black and white picture, in which case you have probably already written down what the dominant colours are, what are the minor colours?  What are the little bits of flair, little bits of background colour?  What other colours are in there? 

OK, what is the light like?  Where is the light falling, or pooling, or shining, or twinkling?  And where is the light not falling.  What’s in shadow? 

And now we’re bringing our attention to you.  Describe what you’re wearing in this picture.  Any like jewellery, or adornments, anything extra on your body?  What’s your hair like?  What have you or has someone else done to your hair on this day?  And then describe your facial expression.  If you didn’t know better, what would you assume that you are feeling based on your facial expression in this picture?  OK, and now just three more things that you can see… We’re almost done with the “What I see is..” lists, but I think there’s three more things in there that you can list, so go ahead and jot them down. 

Hmmm… OK we’re going to make our switch over to what I don’t see now.  So, first of all, what, what do you think… oh, and let me say before we get started, your imagination and your memory are going to kind of intermingle in this. Depending on how recent the picture is, and how sharp your memory is of this time, your imagination might take the front seat or your memory might take the front seat, but they’re both going to, they’re both going to be part of the second part of the exercise.  First of all, what’s right outside the frame of this picture?  What do you know and remember, or what can you imagine might have, or would have been just outside?  Like if the photographer had taken a couple of steps back, what else would they have captured? 

What temperature do you think it was?  What did that version of you in that picture, what were they feeling in the air around them?  And what would that air feel like?  Is it muggy, is it windy, is it dry?  Either imagine, remember, or intuit this.  What would the air have felt like?  Have you heard what sounds that air is carrying in?  What do you imagine that the you in that picture was hearing? And then listen farther.  What are like the most distant sounds, the sounds that the you in this picture would only have heard if everything else went quiet?  Would there have been a smell in the air?  If you had breathed in through your nose in this moment, what would you have smelled?  How about a taste?  Is there a taste that you might have been tasting when this picture was taken? 

OK now what if the camera had flipped around.  Who would it have seen?  Who took this picture?  And then back to you.  We’ve talked about, or we’ve taken notes on what it looks like you’re feeling based on your expression, but knowing yourself, and knowing what you remember about this time, what do you think you actually thought or felt about having your picture taken?  What was going through your mind when you heard the camera go click? 

And then, what are you wishing for?  What do you think that this version of you wanted on this day?  What might or must they have wanted on this day?  What were you reaching for?  And then, what are one or two things that might, or must, or did happen to you after this picture was taken.  Let’s start with on the same day.  So, what else, what else was going to happen at that moment, that version of you in that moment of the picture, didn’t know this was going to happen yet, but what was going to happen later that day?  And then how about later that season, later that year…What was coming up for you that you didn’t know about yet, when this picture was taken? 

OK, we’re just about done with our lists, but look back at the picture with all of this heightened awareness that you’ve created around this picture.  Is there anything else that you see in it now? Anything else that you want to jot down, add to any of these lists.  Just take a second to look.

OK, so you’ve unpacked all kinds of stuff out of this photo.  So, I don’t want you to try to…This is kind of like unpacking or like laying everything in your closet out on your bed before you pack a suitcase.  I don’t want you to try to cram all of this information into the write you’re about to do.  I just want you to stay in this space of having all this attention, all this awareness of this moment in time, and go into a write from there.  I would recommend writing for about 15 minutes.  And if you want to start with a line, you could start with the line, “What I see in this photo is…”  But make sure to get both of these sides in, so maybe if you’re spending a lot of time focusing on what’s visible, then make sure you get the line in later, “What I don’t see is…”.    And you can put that in anywhere.  Just make sure you’re working off both of these sets of lists – what you see, and what you don’t see, what you know and what you remember or imagine.

That’s it from me.  I just want to remind you that there’s no way to do this wrong.  Just have some fun writing.  Let it spill out.  Be curious.  Trust your hand, and see what happens.  OK, have fun out there.  Bye.