Robert Bly (via Rothenberg, Kelly, and Lorca) popularized deep-image prose poetry that emphasized concentrating on concrete images to arrive at spiritual meaning. Decades later photographer Jody Servon and poet Lorene Delany-Ullman re-energize this concept with their gorgeous artist book SAVED: OBJECTS OF THE DEAD (Published by Artsuite, 2023). The collaborators gathered items of those who had passed and interviewed the survivors for stories and narrative. Each of Servon’s photographs is presented with clarity, the plain white background suggesting an almost relic-like presentation of ordinary objects—a colander, a high school diploma, a snow scraper, a charm bracelet, a scapular. Delany-Ullman’s prose poems are exquisite and tender. In “Alan’s Hairbrush,” she writes “It was genetics—Alan had good hair. He never left the house without his hair brushed into place and sprayed. His wife, Grace, claims that Alan had this Avon hairbrush longer than her, more than twenty-five years.” The book also includes essays and micro-essays by Cora Fisher, Sonya Clark, Alex Espinoza, Erika Hayasaki, Swati Khurana, and Leslie Gray Streeter.
You can read about Jody Servon and Lorene Delany-Ullman in a fascinating CNN interview:
https://www.cnn.com/style/saved-objects-dead-book-servon-delany-ullman/index.html
Congratulations, Jody and Lorene!
photo by Todd Turner
He everyone! Denise here again. Here is the link to find out more about SAVED: OBJECTS OF THE DEAD
should you want to purchase a copy:
https://artsuite.com/collections/books-1/products/saved-objects-of-the-dead
Posted by: Denise Duhameld | December 13, 2023 at 03:32 PM
Thanks for this, Denise.... sounds like a beaut. Also I couldn't agree more with your post after Nin's. You and she make me feel flush of a December morning with gratitude for poets and mischief and teachers.
Posted by: Holly Iglesias | December 14, 2023 at 06:55 AM
These are terrific!!
Posted by: Nin Adrews | December 16, 2023 at 06:24 AM
Such a great way to commemorate the dead. In the Red Bull age of constant distractions and self-imposed hyperventilation, we tend to move on very quickly without reflecting on and celebrating those who have passed. I wear a ring with a Tiger's Eye gem that my grandfather found on the bottom of a railroad when he was unloading steel bars from it. He gave it to my father who used it as a wedding ring, and when I wear it, I not only think of them but of a whole working-class culture I grew up in.
Posted by: Peter Johnson | December 17, 2023 at 07:00 AM