“No man has been photographed more than I have” (Walt Whitman). According to Ed Folsom in his article, Photographs and Photographers, Walt Whitman was “the most photographed writer of the nineteenth century,” with over 130 portraits taken during his lifetime. Photography, then, was a crucial and integral piece of Whitman’s life, capturing his journey from […]
Author Archive | Dan Colella
The Decay of Walt Whitman’s World: A Photo Essay
“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts” (Rachel Carson). Born in 1819 and dying in 1892, Walt Whitman’s life spanned much of the ever-changing socio-cultural climate of the 19th century. Witnessing the soar of Industrialism in America and, perhaps more impactful, the […]
Final Project Proposal: Photo Essay
“No man has been photographed more than I have” (Walt Whitman). According to Ed Folsom in his article, Photographs and Photographers, Walt Whitman was “the most photographed writer of the nineteenth century,” with over 130 portraits taken during his lifetime. Photography, then, was a crucial and integral piece of Whitman’s life, capturing his journey from […]
Reflections on the Making of Modern Manhatta
During the summer of 2019 I completed a short film for the final project in my Sight and Sound Filmmaking course at NYU. The projects needed to be in black and white, but could incorporate sound if we wanted. Inspired by the magnificence of the city of Manhattan, much like Walt Whitman was, I thought […]
Echoes of Walt: Manhattan and The Good Gray Poet in Ben Lerner’s 10:04
From the cataloging that Whitman uses in order to carve a deeper meaning beneath his words, to the invasive beauty the city of Manhattan breathes into his work, it is no wonder that Ben Lerner in his book, 10:04, was drawn towards replicating the work of Walt. Just like Whitman does in poems like “City […]
How Gay Was Walt Whitman?
In his essay, “How Gay Was Walt Whitman?,” Arnie Kantrowitz analyzes the multitude of evidence brought forth in both Whitman’s writing and that of gay critics to determine if the grey poet was a homosexual. Kantrowitz writes how “it is difficult for modem gay readers to imagine Whitman as anything other than one of us […]
Looking for John Wayne
Looking for John Wayne, I knew he wasn’t anywhere nearby. He left some time ago, into the sunset for good. He was gone, he could be anywhere. The west was lost, and so was he. Locomotives came from the east. They came from everywhere, but here. Displacing lives, burning homes, For what? The east is […]
Muddied Mannahatta: The Post-Whitman World in the Poetry of Garcia Lorca and Calvin Hernton
Whitman’s poetry spans generations and has touched the minds of readers, future authors and poets. During Whitman’s life, he perceived the world, primarily his home of New York, with great admiration. From poems like “Mannahatta” to “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” and so many others, Whitman was enthralled by not only the beauty of his home, […]
I Am Here like an Old Hulk Driven Up on the Sand: A Newly Discovered Letter by Walt Whitman
Whether it is deciphering a text or researching the historical context surrounding it, readers are always trying to analyze an author’s true intention in their work/s . However, sometimes new discoveries can open our eyes to the mind behind the pages. In the essay, “I Am Here like an Old Hulk Driven Up on the […]
Into the Horizon: Death and the Afterlife in “Now Finale to the Shore”.
With the title of his selection of poetry called, “Songs of Parting,” Whitman founded this collection around goodbyes, so longs, and farewells. With no sense of illness during this time, and thirty years prior to his actual death, it is odd that Whitman grounded many of his poems around death and the afterlife. Regardless […]