Interpreting Vincent van Gogh’s “Starry Night” Painting through Poetry and B&W Photography
I came across a free verse poem by Anne Sexton title “ Starry Night ” (1) , inspired by the iconic 1889 painting of Vincent van Gogh. The first lines of the poem are: The town does not exist except where one black-haired tree slips up like a drowned woman into the hot sky. The town is silent. The night boils with eleven stars. Oh starry starry night! This is how I want to die. Before I even continue reading the rest of Sexton’s poem, my mind made up its own free verse fantasy of wondering how Van Gogh’s painting would look if it were in black and white. Would the night sky still be hot? Would the stars still boil the turbulent sky in flames of silver, yellow and blue? As a B&W film photographer, I often look at the message of paintings and colour photos by transforming them, in my mind’s eyes, into monochrome. Perhaps it is because I believe that if the story/message means as much to the viewers as it was t...
