Poem Analysis: This One Summer

This photo was taken while I was on a dog sledding trip in the forests of North Bay. The dog in the photo Moose, paid no attention to me. This was very challenging, because my original idea for the photo was a close up of him so I could remember his cute face. As soon as I took the photo, I immediately thought of Alice and Rose’s troubled relationship. Rose is usually the one trying to reach out and connect with her mother, but unfortunately her mother doesn’t reciprocate. The in-between space from This One Summer I intended to capture in the photo is the space between Alice and Rose. They don’t fully ignore each other, but they don’t connect either. I also wrote a poem, which accompanies the photo. Some of the aspects of my photo that were
The dog looking away from the camera shows tension. The tone of voice in the poem also forces the reader to feel the tension. For example, when the poem says, “why won’t you even acknowledge I exist?” Contrast is shown by the dog not looking at the camera, but also by specific references in the poem like “trying to connect with you, but it seems to only be one way.” The hand in the photo shows loneliness. The intention is for the reader to see the person behind the hand as being rejected. It intersects with the poem, specifically where it says, “reaching out to you, but you don’t notice.” Rose is trying to connect with her mother while they are on vacation, but every time she tries to make conversation, her mother pushes her away. The specific connections between the photo and poem are that they both display themes of rejection and desperation. The reaching hand and dog turning away are similar to Alice rejecting Rose. Rose is both determined, yet desperate to get an explanation for her mom’s behavior. Places in the poem where it intersects are where it says, “trying to connect with you, but it seems to only be one way”. Here it shows rejection. Rose is trying to connect with her mom, but her mom doesn’t want to connect with anyone. Also, where it says “ why won’t you even acknowledge I exist?”, it demonstrates that Rose is desperate for her mom to be happy when she talks to Rose, or at least be slightly interested in what Rose is saying. The elements of a visual I had in mind while taking the photos were composition and content. In my photo you can clearly see a hand on the dog, but what you don’t see is the face/person behind it. I think it is effective composition because it gives the readers room to interpret what they’d like. You can also clearly see a dog’s back. And although we cannot see the dog’s face or know what it’s thinking, we know that the dog is ignoring the