John Sarsgard -- Southern Photographer Moves North, Makes Good

Mississippi-born but now NYC-based photographer John Sarsgard has recently published a book of his elegantly-seen portraits of contemporary American poets, Like Musical Instruments, available from Kentucky's Broadstone Press.



Since my day job is as an English literature teacher, I'm fascinated with Sarsgard's portraits, and with his selection of poets. 

Sarsgard pairs each portrait with a poem by that poet, so we get a glimpse of each poet's world along with the portrait.

Sarsgard's book brings us a cross-section of contemporary American writing, ranging from folks who got their start in the 1950's, like Michael McClure (image directly above) to contemporary voices like Sylvia Gorelick (image two up) and
Erica Hunt (image below).

Sarsgard typically makes platinum prints, enriching the depth of his vision.

Good to see this work. I can only hope that John will shift his camera's gaze Southward to produce a companion volume of Southern poets.  

If he does, I've got a long list of names of folks he could start with.