INTERVIEW WITH @THEALICIACOOK
Kerri Sullivan | April 6, 2014
We’re kicking off April with an Ocean County resident, Alicia Cook. She is not a photographer, but according to her Instagram bio, she “thinks she’s a writer.” Here, we talk to her about being creative, drawing inspiration from the Jersey shore, and what blackout poems are.
What is your relationship with photography?
I’d say we are in an “open relationship,” as it is not as serious as my relationship with writing. It is another creative outlet for me and I have found it also helps when I am suffering with writers block. I will spend my free time on a nice day just driving around looking for a moment to capture. My photos usually do not include people, but places.
Your instagram is largely made up of your poetry. Want to explain what a blackout poem is for those who might be unfamiliar?
Blackout poetry is great. It’s also known as “newspaper blackout.” What you do is open a book, magazine, or newspaper and instead of reading it as you would normally, you look for notice certain words that may jump out at you and that, when pieced together with other words on the page, create a “poem.” It’s a fun creative process, my version of doing a word search. The end result is always interesting because even if 5 people are looking at the same page of text, each will find something completely different depending on what words pop out to them. It seems to be a growing interest on the internet. And some people create true works of art. I used to mark directly in the book I was using, but now for the sake of the poor book, I usually take a picture of the page and digitally create my blackout poem. For more insight on blackout poetry, I recommend checking out @makeblackoutpoetry or @austinkleon.
Do your two creative disciplines—writing and photography—influence each other in any ways
Absolutely. Odds are if something strikes me enough to capture it in a photograph, the words spill out shortly after. If I see something that inspires me, I want to capture it in two ways: visually and through my words. I can write without a photograph, solely from imagination, but every time I post an actual photo, I attach some kind of words to it – my own words, a quote, or a song lyric. I feel writing and photography are long lost soul mates and work together perfectly, especially since Instagram.
What do you like about living in New Jersey?
I am a beach girl at heart – so I would be lying if I said I didn’t wish, at times, it was warm all year round (especially after this winter.) But there is something to be said about having four seasons. Snow on Christmas. Orange leaves in the fall. Also, for one state, NJ sure does display a lot of diversity. We have busy cities, beaches, and farm land. Sometimes it’s hard to believe it’s all in one state. I love it and I can’t imagine growing up or living anywhere else.
What are your plans for the week you’ll be shooting for Jersey Collective?
I’d like to post at least twice a day. One photo and one blackout poem per day. I hope to have NJ’s aforementioned diversity captured through my images during my week and hopefully turn more people on to trying their hand at Blackout Poetry. I can promise no selfies or pictures of food. I am a big fan of sunsets, beaches, and skylines.
View the article on Jersey Collective.