Your Photos are Worth a Thousand Words

Start off the year by connecting images with words in a magical way. This workshop will focus on curating some photos from our life, discovering a theme that connects them, and generating poetry inspired by the images. The goal will be for each of us to create a finished book by the end of the six weeks. We’ll talk about poetic forms, photo editing, and the relationship between words and images.

Nick Jaina recently published a poetic photo essay called Abrazo, which focuses on a turbulent time in his life when he really needed the hospitality of friends in Mexico City. Nick will share examples from this book and insights into his process.

Nick Jaina is a musician and author originally from Sacramento who has lived in Portland, New York, and New Orleans. He was an Oregon Book Award finalist in 2015 for his memoir Get It While You Can, which is now in its third printing. His writing has appeared in Atlantic Monthly, McSweeney’s Quarterly and the journal Oregon Humanities. He has released many wonderful albums under his own name, including 2025’s The Monster Mash. He co-founded and was music director for a ballet company in New York City called Satellite that involved dancers from Juilliard and the New York City Ballet and performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, garnering praise from The New York Times. He has composed scores for feature films and documentaries, including All Sorts, Cement Suitcase, and Elemental: Reimagine Wildfire. 

Is the registration fee an obstacle for you to attend this workshop? Fishtrap offers a limited number of scholarships to help with the cost. Contact Program Director Mike Midlo for more information. mike@fishtrap.org