Adventure Series Photo Prompts

Egypt

By Kristi Kovalishyn

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This is a series of photos that will prompt you to be an adventurer through this world of ours. Questions are included to get you started, but there are many more that only you can answer.

Look at the pictures and choose one that speaks to you. Write from your first instincts. If you desire some help with a starting point then read the prompts. Go with your first instinct. That is your authentic self, not what the internal critic wants you to write. Do not edit your thoughts or writing until you have written out all the thoughts in your head. Allow the words to flow out of you, uncensored. Then, and only then, return to the beginning to read over what you wrote and begin the editing stage.

Most importantly, have fun with your ideas and those that are stirred up by the images. Enjoy the process!

Writing Prompt 1:

Where are you?

What is your purpose for being here… at this time of day/season and this time in your life?

Who are you?

Are you with anyone? If so, what is your connection to them?

What time of day/year is it?

Describe the setting to someone who cannot see the picture. What is the feeling of the place, the temperature, the mood?

Writing Prompt 2:

What do you see in this photo? Look closely….

What does this photo say about the commercialization of ancient monuments, chain stores, capitalism?

What does this photo prompt you to think about?

Hint: the reflection is a pyramid.

Writing Prompt 3:

What do you see in this photo?

Who would frequent this area?

Is there old and new merging? If so, how?

How many cultures do you see reflected in this photo?

Background info:
This photo was taken in Aswan, Egypt. The mosque was built a few hundred years ago on top of an ancient Egyptian temple, which was built a few thousand years ago. When the mosque needed renovations, they began to dig and discovered this ancient Egyptian temple underneath, buried by the desert sand. The Egyptian temple is now a tourist attraction. The mosque is fully functioning.

Writing Prompt 4:

Who is this statue?

Where is it?

Who/What are you looking at this statue?

How did you get to be near this statue?

What is your purpose in this place on earth?

If you could make a statue of yourself, what would it look like?

Of what would it be made?

Background info (read after writing your own ideas!):
This is Hatshepsut. She was a female pharaoh. She made the images look like men in order to gain respect, however the male pharaohs who followed tried to erase all remnants of her existence in history. The red smudges are bits of thousands year old original paint still visible.

More prompts now that you’ve read the background info:

What sort of difficulties would a woman ruler in ancient Egypt have encountered? What does a female ruler face in today’s world?

Has anything changed? Imagine yourself as this Queen/Pharoah/Goddess and write about your day. Who would you encounter? What would you wear/eat/do, etc?

Writing Prompt 5:

Where are you?

What are you looking at?

What is the function of what you see?

How old is what you see?

What is your purpose in this area?

Who lives in this area?

Writing Prompt 6:

Where are you?

Who are you?

Who are these people in this picture?

What is your purpose here? What is theirs?

What is being sold in the market?

Pick one of these people — imagine what their life is like. What is a typical day like for them? What are their names, where do they live, with whom do they live?

Writing Prompt 7:

Where are you?

What is your business/purpose here?

Who are the people in the picture and what are they doing?

Imagine yourself in the shoes of one of these people. What would you be feeling? What would the conversation be like?

Imagine you are one of the chickens/roosters/hens. What is your take on this scene?

Imagine you are one of the cages. What have you seen during your lifetime?

Imagine you are the wall. How many coats of paint do you have? What have you seen since your construction? How has life changed in the streets that you look upon?

Writing Prompt 8:

What do you see?

What is going on in this picture?

Where are you?

Who are you?

What are you doing?

If you see people in the picture, what are they doing?

Do you see anything on the horizon?

What emotions does this photo stir inside? •

Photos and Prompts © 2006 Kristi Kovalishyn. All rights reserved.

About the Author | More by Kristi Tencarre
Kristi Tencarre (formerly Kovalishyn) (B.A., B.Ed.) has had her essays and articles published online and internationally. She is currently working on publishing more articles as well as manuscripts for children's picture books and juvenile fiction. You can browse her blog of writing at skyelarke.blogspot.com.

10/27/06