Photos can work too, although I think it helps if they connect to the writing, like how your first book’s cover image functions. Even after we’ve learned what we’re looking at, the image begins to stray: is it also a weird family tree, a map of veins and arteries, a strand of hair?
Since you asked, I looked around here and came up with three intriguing cover photos, all portraits:
I just finished Ross Gay’s book-length poem. He talks about the cover photo in his poem, pointing out details: the key around the woman’s neck, the boy’s aviator hat and what he appears to be holding: an origami bird. Library of Congress photo.
This photo that Abish’s wife Cecile shot gets stranger the longer you look at it: the military hat shades and hides the rider’s eyes, but below that it’s all summer fun, with the ridiculous print of his shirt, the naked legs, the bareback horse. And yet…
These three rock pioneers toured Australia in 1957. Dylan doesn’t tell us anything about the photo, although Little Richard and Eddie Cochran might be recognizable, and Alis Lesley was an early female Elvis impersonator; Elvis liked her performance so much he recommended her for Richard’s tour.
I do love the cover and title and see how it fuses many aspects of Japanese art and yet it appears so Western-U.S. to me in a way I know will play in lovely ways with your poetry. I just worked out the cover for my forthcoming Amanda Chimera from Madville Publishing in an amazingly brief process with the press's designer, who read the book and created covers that picked up its images and themes brilliantly. I can't display it yet on-line but our only changes involved colors because the book's imagery has a marked color scheme which wasn't picked up in the initial versions. SUCH an amazing collaborative process. I have had to search for cover art myself in the past and it is so not easy. I agree with your point Radha, that it is utterly worthwhile, though, to find a cover that speaks of or to or for your book and that you love. I was lucky this time.
Great cover image and layout. The image also suggests to me a soil profile, with soot and ash filtering down and becoming part of the soil, generally enriching it over time. Then, as the eye drops to the bottom of the image, it appears to be floating, root fibers dangling — nicely arresting.
Since the title is allusive, the image probably needs to be too, and not, say, a figurative drawing or a photograph.
I think a cover should make us want to open the book, and your book’s cover certainly does that.
Photos can work too, although I think it helps if they connect to the writing, like how your first book’s cover image functions. Even after we’ve learned what we’re looking at, the image begins to stray: is it also a weird family tree, a map of veins and arteries, a strand of hair?
Since you asked, I looked around here and came up with three intriguing cover photos, all portraits:
https://www.rossgay.net/be-holding
I just finished Ross Gay’s book-length poem. He talks about the cover photo in his poem, pointing out details: the key around the woman’s neck, the boy’s aviator hat and what he appears to be holding: an origami bird. Library of Congress photo.
https://www.amazon.com/How-German-Walter-Abish/dp/0811207765
This photo that Abish’s wife Cecile shot gets stranger the longer you look at it: the military hat shades and hides the rider’s eyes, but below that it’s all summer fun, with the ridiculous print of his shirt, the naked legs, the bareback horse. And yet…
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/oct/21/alis-lesley-the-female-elvis-who-takes-centre-stage-on-bob-dylans-new-book-cover
These three rock pioneers toured Australia in 1957. Dylan doesn’t tell us anything about the photo, although Little Richard and Eddie Cochran might be recognizable, and Alis Lesley was an early female Elvis impersonator; Elvis liked her performance so much he recommended her for Richard’s tour.
I do love the cover and title and see how it fuses many aspects of Japanese art and yet it appears so Western-U.S. to me in a way I know will play in lovely ways with your poetry. I just worked out the cover for my forthcoming Amanda Chimera from Madville Publishing in an amazingly brief process with the press's designer, who read the book and created covers that picked up its images and themes brilliantly. I can't display it yet on-line but our only changes involved colors because the book's imagery has a marked color scheme which wasn't picked up in the initial versions. SUCH an amazing collaborative process. I have had to search for cover art myself in the past and it is so not easy. I agree with your point Radha, that it is utterly worthwhile, though, to find a cover that speaks of or to or for your book and that you love. I was lucky this time.
Such a thoughtful cover! Your explanation of your process is instructive and inspiring. I can't wait to read your book.
Great cover image and layout. The image also suggests to me a soil profile, with soot and ash filtering down and becoming part of the soil, generally enriching it over time. Then, as the eye drops to the bottom of the image, it appears to be floating, root fibers dangling — nicely arresting.
Since the title is allusive, the image probably needs to be too, and not, say, a figurative drawing or a photograph.
I think a cover should make us want to open the book, and your book’s cover certainly does that.
A fascinating process.