By Natalie Taylor
Sudden fiction is a literary genre representing brief writing. It means minimal use of words—a tale that reveals itself as a burst of light. As if the writer is in such a rush, he or she can only spare a fraction of time, and a meager number of words to tell the story. But this is deceiving, because crafting a good piece of sudden fiction can be more daunting than allowing oneself the leisure of thousands of words instead of just a few.
Janet Sternburg does with photos what a sudden fiction writer does with words. Her images are precise, instantaneous, and they tell stories in a poetically condensed manner. Janet has been doing photography since 1999, after a successful career in writing essays, poetry, and memoir. Her transition was a precipitous plunge into a new art form for her—photography. Walking by a storefront in San Miguel, she saw something unique reflected in the glass and, not having a camera, went to a shop and bought a single-use camera. She took a photo of the image reflected in the glass, and this sudden image led to her career as a photographer.
Even today, with the advent of digital photography, photo shopping, and various ways to alter a photo, Janet remains true to her beginnings. She still uses single-use cameras for her images, which have garnered praise, prizes, international exhibits, and have become part of several books on photography. Do not be deceived by her apparent slapdash method of taking pictures, there is great care involved in what she does, and more than anything, there is an awe-inspiring artist’s eye in each take. Not all the images captured pass muster. She carefully chooses the ones that correspond to her way of looking at the universe; the image must be compatible with her vision: “revealing an interpenetrating world.”
Janet is perfectly comfortable using single-use cameras. Their limitations, she says, give her what she wants—images that resemble the way our minds work. With a camera lacking depth of field, “the world becomes porous.” If there is blurriness, so be it, our eyes do not see the world in perfect focus. Her work is something “between accident and intention, the territory of yourself is the area in between.”
Janet identifies as a poet and lives her life as one—she is a verbal and a visual poet. I wondered when this first became evident, and she said that she was encouraged as a little girl by her Aunt Ella. When she was nine, Janet would point out to her aunt things she saw along the way as they were walking. “You can see things that I don’t see,” her aunt said. When you look at Janet’s work, the statement makes perfect sense. She shared some recent photos she had taken on one of her walks. Images of the Ignacio Ramirez market, doorways, sidewalks. Some were easily recognizable, but others were true puzzles, they seemed like alien images from somewhere far away—a burst of a mystery. And yet, they were all part of a small section of San Miguel, taken in such a unique way, they compel a close look and elicit questions about what they are. Exactly as her aunt stated, Janet sees what others don’t. Janet does not consider herself a “point and shoot” photographer. She takes many shots before choosing the one that truly represents what her eye saw, “something that lights her up.”
Since moving to San Miguel, Janet has taken numerous photos everywhere, including many here in the city. Her latest project, however, is intrinsic to San Miguel, it is integral to the city. The idea for the new book, sprang at the behest of a publishing company that liked the images she showed them. Janet did not want it to be a typical “gringa looking at Mexico” book, and found the perfect way to get beyond that. When she showed some photos to her physical therapist, she was surprised at the unique ways that he saw them. A close up photo of what looks like cotton candy, hanging in a grocery store window, brought memories of childhood for Alberto. He identified them as estropajos—natural, vegetable sponges his grandmother used to scrub him with. Janet’s new book “Looking at Mexico/Mexico Looks Back,” is a collaborative work of photos and Alberto’s authentic, Mexican take on them. You can find out about Janet Sternburg’s past and present works on her website: janetsternburgphoto.com
Natalie Taylor: BA in English Lit and Journalism, Loyola University, Chicago, 1995. MFA in Creative Writing, Vermont College, Montpelier, VT, 1999. Published writer, editor, journalist. Spanish teacher in the US, English teacher in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Translator. www.natalietaylor.org Contact: tangonata@gmail.com
