Poetry Reading Response-"Photography"

              Many people are passionate about specific hobbies like Nikki Giovanni the author of the poem, “Photography”. She portrays her feelings towards photography in various ways throughout the poem, like by stating at the end of it “If the eye is a camera and the film is the heart, then the photo assistant is god”. In each stanza, it refers to what photography means in her life. The author provides symbolism, imagery, and metaphors, to make readers realize about what the feelings she has towards photography.  

A literary device the author uses to express her feelings towards photography is metaphor. “the eye we are told is a camera/ but the film is the heart” (Giovanni 1-3). This text is seen as a metaphor because the author compares two unlike things, which are the film and the heart, but both of these are things that aren’t similar. She compares these two camera parts with body elements because this is how she might view things that relate to photography in real life, and is expressing through metaphors like this.

Another literary device the author includes is imagery. A text that shows imagery is, “watching the red sun bleed/ into the ocean” (Giovanni 23-24). This text portrays imagery because it shows a specific view of one the five senses, which is seeing. This quote being mentioned in the poem, can be concluded that the author might have had watched this scene, from the description she evaluated in that line. It doesn’t really express her feelings towards photography but it could have been a thought that she had and somehow relates to photography, but wasn’t clear about the view she wants to show us. I think by mentioning this line she probably wanted to show the readers a view she might of have wanted to take a photograph of. That thought came up in my mind because she described the scene she was watching with many detailed description, showing that she probably got influenced by it.

            Moreover, the last literary device the author includes is symbolism. Symbolism is a way the author expressed her feelings is by stating, “If the eye is a camera and the film is the heart/ then the photo assistant is god” (Giovanni 26-27). This text was stated at the end of the poem and it shows that symbolism is a way the author expressed her feelings because objects’ are getting referred to a greater importance in the text, which creates a view of how much importance photography and its elements means in the author’s life.

            After reading this poem, I realized that the author wanted readers to feel how photography gives her an inspiration and that we should have the same feeling towards the hobbies or talents we adore too. Also I think the literary devices’ the author includes portrays a good image for the readers to see and understand the feelings she has towards photography. The poem makes me feel and realize that we can be more passionate and have feelings towards our hobbies more than we think we could, like how the author expressed in the poem through the literary devices.