Like words, photographs often tell stories, convey emotions, represent ideas and document history; they "speak" to readers through visual images. When you look at a photograph, what do you "hear"? This exercise asks you to use photographs as a starting point for writing.

Select a photo that interests you in any issue of TIME. Your instructor may provide you with photography books from the library or a stack of additional magazines to select from, as well. Then choose a writing idea from those below and begin.

Analytical Writing

1. "Listen" to the photo. What is this photograph trying to communicate? What ideas or emotions does it convey? What does it suggest or argue for or against? Do you believe that it communicates effectively?

2. Analyze technique. Examine the photographic technique at work in the picture you selected. What is included within the frame of the photo? What is excluded? How is it lit, and what is the effect of the lighting? What is the focus of the picture? Most importantly, how do the technical aspects of the photograph affect the feelings or ideas it communicates and its success in conveying them?

Imaginative Writing

1. Monologue. Write a monologue in the voice of someone (or something) in the photograph.

2. Dialogue. Write a dialogue between persons in the photo, either by yourself or working collaboratively with one or more classmates (each writer takes the voice of one figure in the photograph).

3. Narrative. Write an imaginary narrative involving a person in the photo or a story set in the location of the photograph.

4. Word-picture. Translate the visual image into a prose word-picture by writing a detailed description of what you see in the photo. If others choose the same writing option, compare your work for differences in style, word choice, effectiveness. What can a photo do that words cannot, and vice versa?

5. Picture-poem. Looking at the photo, make a detailed written list of its elements. Then shape the lines of your list into a poem.

Personal Writing

1. Record a memory. Write freely about what you see in this photograph until an experience from your own life comes to mind. Then tell the story of that memory.

2. Respond to what you "hear." Write about the ideas and feelings suggested by the photo, and then record your own response to what the image communicates. Your exploration may develop into an analysis of an issue or idea raised by the photo or prompt you to recount a personal experience.

When you have finished your piece, exchange papers with a classmate. Comment and discuss: where can the writer take the piece from here?

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