Photo Story – Blog Fest
Today Melissa from the Undeveloped Story is hosting a blogfest. The idea:
I can remember being told this many times in my life: “Every photo has a great story behind it.” And they’re right. So, for this fest, I want you to find a photo, any photo, and make up a short story (or poem for all the poets out there) about it. It doesn’t have to be very long. Make it as long as you want, just as long as you tell your story. I know that many of you have other writing projects to do, so I don’t want this to take up too much of your time. Just write however much you want to. The length is up to you this time!
I decided given I have just recently taken a million photos, surely one of them could inspire me to write a short story. So here we go – the photo I chose is one I took in the British Museum – I think I was in the section on Enlightenment at the time but I went through so many exhibits it is hard to remember. Anyway, this photo just continues my thing of taking photos of feet and shoes.
However after staring at said photo for a long time and having a lot on my mind I’ve come up with many ideas and rejected them so I think maybe my part of this blog fest will be every photo inspires a thousand rejections.
Rejected – any notion of weaving greek and or roman gods into a modern setting (mostly because it’s been done and because I wasn’t really in the mood to get historical).
Rejected – statues coming to life either as discovery or as horror (mostly because its been done. In point of fact, I’ve done it before in a short story).
Rejected – a fallen civilisation being rediscovered with far reaching impact (mostly because this isn’t the start of a short story, but an entire work).
Rejected – a story told from the perspective of an abused platform (mostly because I couldn’t stop laughing long enough to figure out what an abused platform’s voice would sound like).
And on it went.
There is my photo. What would you have done with it?
28 Comments
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Cassandra Jade in the Realm 
Carol Ann Hoel said,
August 6, 2010 at 10:45 am
I have a boot story. You have inspired me to put it on my blog! Truth is stranger than fiction, they say. In this case, it is. Thanks for sharing such a lovely idea.
Cassandra Jade said,
August 7, 2010 at 2:40 am
I wonder what your boot story is about.
Agatha82 said,
August 6, 2010 at 11:30 am
My first thought was “how come there’s a modern wedge sandal in the British Museum?”
My second thought was to have a short story of a cultured man who takes his latest girlfriend (a blonde who is into fashion…yeah, I know it’s a cliche) to the museum and she gushes over this shoe because it reminds me of something she saw in Sex and the City) and I don’t know, maybe she suddenly gets interested in history and they live happily ever after. Ah well, crap story but it’s all I could think of.
Cassandra Jade said,
August 7, 2010 at 2:40 am
It could work. Just needs some refinement.
Casey Lybrand said,
August 7, 2010 at 5:15 am
“how come there’s a modern wedge sandal in the British Museum?” – that was my first thought, too! Had to look again.
Agatha82 said,
August 7, 2010 at 3:19 pm
How funny Casey, glad you had the same thought.
Agatha82 said,
August 6, 2010 at 11:32 am
I meant to say I am not a blonde nor am I into fashion and I meant “reminds HER” of something she saw. (as a matter of fact, I’ve never watched an episode of Sex and the City ha)
writerleerobertson said,
August 6, 2010 at 1:02 pm
How about this: A horrid smell has settled over a small town and its suffering citizens cannot find the cause of it. Everyone suffers unspeakably. Finally someone discovers that the cause is this ancient (and cursed) foot.
Cassandra Jade said,
August 7, 2010 at 2:41 am
Of course. The foot must be cursed. And it probably would smell.
catwoods said,
August 6, 2010 at 1:14 pm
Like all things fossilized and prehistoric, bigger was better.
To me, your sculpture looks suspiciously like those foamy Crocs kids wear. So the gist is, we’ve been here before–giant children wearing giant crocs while chasing after giant dragonflies and avoiding giant venus flytraps. Our world, like our blissfully unaware inhabitants, continues to shrink, kind of a Horton Hears A Who via Darwin adaptations, just to keep our species alive.
And then, a slumbering giant awakens…
But I write for kids, so there you have it. Thanks for this project. It was a fun start to my day.
Cassandra Jade said,
August 7, 2010 at 2:42 am
Kids stories are always fun to read – they have all the essentials of a good story, just boiled down and laid open without any of the fancy words to hide a poor plot. Kids stories must be incredibly hard to write well.
Alex J Cavanaugh said,
August 6, 2010 at 2:30 pm
The last days of Pompeii?
Cassandra Jade said,
August 7, 2010 at 2:42 am
I got hung up on the giant thing rather than the fact that it was fossilised. Hmm.
Carol Kilgore said,
August 6, 2010 at 3:27 pm
Since I write mystery and suspense, I would have had someone steal it. Maybe first steal your photo, then hunt down the piece, and so on. Someone with a shoe fetish, of course 🙂
Cassandra Jade said,
August 7, 2010 at 2:44 am
Someone with a shoe fetish that just has to have every kind of shoe?
I like the idea of a mystery. Given it is in a museum that would make for a fun heist sequence.
elisajeglin said,
August 6, 2010 at 5:27 pm
I like the idea of telling a story of an abused platform. It seems it would be entertaining if nothing else. I wonder what I would do with this picture…there are already so many suggestions…perhaps I my main character has lost their love and the only way to win back their heart is to ask for penance by collecting the four elements of the earth, and this fossilized foot could represent earth and spirit…idk, I’m not very good at this, lol.
Cassandra Jade said,
August 7, 2010 at 2:43 am
I love the variety of ideas coming out here.
Shadow said,
August 6, 2010 at 5:46 pm
Perhaps I would not have been so quick to deny any of those ideas. Often stories “done to death” can lead to some interesting variations if you just let yourself go with them. When presented with a photo, I often just let it all go and write it. I can change it later.
Cassandra Jade said,
August 7, 2010 at 2:45 am
I think the other problem was I have other stories in motion that I should be dealing with. I didn’t really want to pursue anything that different from what I was already working on.
Hema P. said,
August 6, 2010 at 6:46 pm
The first image that jumped to my mind was that of the mummified remains of a giant looking for its severed foot.
Cassandra Jade said,
August 7, 2010 at 2:45 am
That could be either really terrifying, or really funny, depending on how it was done.
Alex Willging said,
August 6, 2010 at 6:51 pm
The photo makes me think of a broken sculpture, like something dug up from the ruins of an ancient civilization–and then I’d want to know about that civilization, the people who lived in it, and the events that led to its downfall.
Cassandra Jade said,
August 7, 2010 at 2:46 am
A historic perspective – so many ideas.
slytherclawchica said,
August 6, 2010 at 11:27 pm
A Cinderella-esque story, without a happy ending. Maybe she was a thief, breaking into the Temple at Delphi at night to steal ornaments from the altars and pawn them away at a distant city.
And… maybe I’ll stop talking and just write that. ^^
Cassandra Jade said,
August 7, 2010 at 2:46 am
Sounds like it could be fun.
Casey Lybrand said,
August 7, 2010 at 5:19 am
Love your progression of rejected ideas, Cassandra. Story ideas. Hmmm… I like Agatha82’s idea of something in the museum itself. How about this:
A chance encounter in the British Museum. Both are confused over why there would be a wedge sandal in an exhibit on Ancient Greece.* Confusion leads to a shared sense of sardonicism leads to… something. Starting with fun dialog and seeing where it goes.
* Or wherever it is.
Fun exercise!
Bringing Back My Focus « The Undeveloped Story said,
August 8, 2010 at 5:02 am
[…] date. We do have two wonderful people who already have theirs up. So, go check out Lua’s and Cassandra’s blogs to read what they have come up […]
Flash Fiction Thursday: Thief in the Temple « Feathers & Fangs said,
August 12, 2010 at 4:49 pm
[…] after all. Was inspired to write something ancient-Greek since I saw My Life in Ruins and Cassandra Jade’s recent post inspired this specific story. Much love, […]