TEXT AND IMAGE: World Poetry Day

To celebrate WORLD POETRY DAY, we’ve decided to post one of Rebecca’s prose poems from her first book, “The Glass Between Us,” both in English and in Chinese, the latter thanks to the wonderful translation by fellow photographer and translator, Monica Lin, who is based in Hong Kong.  We are dedicating the poem to all the Chinese photographers we’ve met — both in the Hong Kong workshop, at our Hong Kong slide talk, and through the TWO LOOKS online photographic community.  In addition, since the poem takes place in the Caribbean, we decided to pair it with a relatively unknown photograph of Alex’s from Puerto Rico, which will appear in his new book, “The Suffering of Light.”–=Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb

Alex Webb, Pinones, Puerto Rico, 1990, from the book "The Suffering of Light"

Reflections: 4

Sailing in the Caribbean, I catch a mahi mahi.  It takes two men to lift its four-foot body from the sea.  On the hot teak deck, I watch the creature shift its tint, from teal to indigo to aquamarine, like having a tiny sea, beautiful and raging, at my bare feet.  As it flips and flops, I feel a little afraid of this great hulking dying thing.  I wish it would fly.  I wish it would be still.  I’m ashamed how hungry it makes me feel.

Within minutes, I slip a piece of deep red sushi between my lips.  The   freshest fish I’ve ever tasted, it is heavy and sweet and otherworldly, like a slice of mango or sex in the sun after swimming in the turquoise Caribbean.  What I hope my own death will taste like.—Rebecca Norris Webb, from the book, “The Glass Between Us”

镜像：4

航行在加勒比海，我捕到一条马头鱼。把这四英尺长的大家伙从海里拖上来竟需要兩個男人。在滚烫的柚木甲板上，我看着這個造物变换颜色，从湖蓝到靛蓝到海蓝，像我赤裸的足邊一處小小的海洋，美丽而狂暴。看着它拍打翻滚的样子，我突然有点害怕这个垂死的大家伙。我希望它飞。我希望它静止。我为自己因它而饥肠辘辘感到羞愧。

几分钟后，一块深红色的生鱼片滑进我的双唇。这是我尝过最新鲜的鱼肉了，它厚实、鲜甜、超凡脱俗，如同一片芒果，又像在宝石般的加勒比海水中暢泳之后開始的性爱。真希望自己的死亡也有同樣的味道—Rebecca Norris Webb, translated into Chinese by Monica Lin, from the book, “The Glass Between Us”

WEBBWORKS: Alex’s Book, Rebecca’s Poem

We’re back in Brooklyn, and wanted to give our TWO LOOKS online community the first glimpse of two new WebbWorks:  Alex’s first advance copy of his survey book, THE SUFFERING OF LIGHT, and a new poem Rebecca recently wrote on a ranch in South Dakota for her upcoming book, MY DAKOTA, which is a photographic elegy for her brother, Dave.   Again, we both apologize for our rough, at times out-of-focus homemade videos (Unfortunately, the IPOD touch doesn’t focus very precisely, not to mention Rebecca’s shivering hands in the -15 F Dakota blizzard.)

Alex’s book will be available May 1 from Aperture (US), Thames and Hudson (UK), Contrasto (Italy), and Textuel (France).  We will keep you posted about upcoming book signings and other events in May and June in New York, Madrid, London, Boston, and Charlottesville.—Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb