Photography as Poetry. Northlight 12. By Kermit Lee.

Arizona State University, 1978. Spiral bound, 61 pages, very good with bump on corner.  Among photographers discussed in this work are Robert Frank, Minor White, Ralph Gibson, Alfred Stieglitz, Harry Callahan, and Les Krims. Uncommon, only a few copies in WorldCat. Table of contents included in photos below. Summary:

Photography as Poetry (Northlight 12), authored by Kermit Lee, is a short critical study that explores the idea of photography not just as a technical medium but as an expressive art form akin to poetry. Rather than focusing on camera mechanics, Lee frames photography as a poetic language—a process of seeing, feeling, and interpreting the world that parallels how poets distill experience into verse.

Published in a spiral-bound format and running about 60 pages, the book surveys the work and philosophies of several major photographers—including Robert Frank, Minor White, Alfred Stieglitz, Harry Callahan, Ralph Gibson, and Les Krims. Lee uses examples from their work to demonstrate how photographs can function like poems: condensed visual statements that open multiple layers of meaning through composition, rhythm, and metaphor.

A central premise of the book is that great photography, like great poetry, compresses reality into an image that resists simple description but evokes deeper understanding and emotion. Lee argues that photographers who think poetically use light, form, and sequencing to suggest connections and interpretations rather than merely recording subjects. This approach encourages readers (and viewers) to engage with photographs not just as pictures but as lyrical acts of vision—where seeing and meaning intersect.

While brief and deliberately reflective, Photography as Poetry remains a thought-provoking contribution to photographic criticism, especially for readers interested in the aesthetic and philosophical dimensions of photography as art.