"Photographers are always looking at things, but they never question the nature of the thing itself. A photograph of a corpse tells me nothing of the metaphysical implications of death, which are ultimately more significant than its appearance. A photograph of a person whom we find attractive does not reveal the complex nature of the desire that it provokes in us. we are constantly responding without examining the subtle mechanisms of our response. More than ever we live in an atmosphere of desire, being assaulted and manipulated with sexual imagery externally; while internally, we struggle with the needs of our passions, always constrained by the religious and political definitions of society.

I began to write poetry because of my frustration with the inherent limitations of the photograph. Photography reproduces with exquisite fidelity the appearance of things, but things are not always what they appear to be. By its nature it cannot show our true realm of experience, the invisible world of our emotions. I feel that language combined with photography helps me express myself more precisely and intimately. it is not simply a matter of looking. One must strive ever deeper into the atoms of truths, regardless of where it leads. and eventually the photographer must close his eyes to see that truth." — Duane Michals

twelvetrees press
november 1986
9 x 12 inches
96 pages
45 gravure plates and 45 poems