A year ago, Antoinette and I completed the first draft of the content that would become together, our first book of photography and poetry.
This morning, we wrote “the end” on the draft of the follow-on book, which we will publish later this spring. We’re still trying out a couple of working titles, so stay tuned.
The first book came together a bit by accident. We didn’t set out to create a book. After New Year’s Day 2022, Antoinette sent me a picture she’d taken while we were on a walk. I wrote a new poem inspired by that picture. Then we did it again the next week, then the next. Over the next several months, this process became a positive, creative, fun touchpoint in a very difficult year. By midyear we thought maybe we could keep it up all year long. By September, we thought maybe we had something that would make a very special book. That’s how together came to be.
This new book is largely the same format and idea as together, with a few tweaks. For example, for 50 of the 52 weeks of 2023, we followed the same process as we did in 2022: Antoinette selected one of her photos from the week, and I wrote an original poem inspired by that photo.
This year, for one of the weeks I was the one who provided the photo, and Antoinette wrote a piece inspired by it. And for another of the weeks, I wrote a poem and Antoinette had to take a picture to go along with it.
You can get a preview of the upcoming book in the 12 months of our 2024 calendar. I’m quite proud of it.
And we’re not done yet! For 2024, we are switching it up a bit. Still doing a weekly creative collaboration, but this time it’s a bit more parallel play. We are taking turns coming up with a prompt word, and then we each have to create something inspired by that word. And we’re not limiting ourselves to photography and poetry this time. The only rule is it has to be printable in a book.
If you want to play along with us, let me know. I can share the prompt words, and you can create your own art along with us.