haiku::photo 7 — aging

The Haiku Foundation welcomes you to haiku::photo.

M. H. Rubin says

Greetings photographers,

Maybe it has become obvious, but to take photograph that articulates ‘haiku’ isn’t simple. These photos aren’t being looked at the way other photos are – we’re not interested in photos that are “pretty” or simply sharp; we are drawn to photos that don’t rely on being a picture of something (just) interesting or colorful – and perhaps hardest, not enough to be a haiku moment noticed, but an image composed in the frame more like a bonsai, each part beautiful in its form and position, utterly natural but very much your creation. These are hard things.

This month’s winners:

Olga Leskiw-Suzuki

With that said, here’s a wonderful haiku, this month’s first place:

I’ll say two things — first, it’s slightly more exotic than I usually select, and slightly less formal and simple. But with all that, I still like the small moment it captures, and key, the curious nature of the legs off to the left. I think it’s a nice example of how that rhythm of beats and discovery is core to the haiku, and the feeling of simplicity and formality is a lot more flexible.

Beverly Jay

This one is in many ways the opposite: the leap is less strong, but I like the formality and simplicity. The placement of the fallen petal onto the shadow is fundamental, a quiet moment of everyday life, something you might notice in your day.

Honorable mentions:

Dinah Power

I’m just going to put these here — I liked them even without having as much haiku feeling, but still made me pause in the best way.

Anne Fox

How did our voters see it?

POST SCRIPT: Last week I was gathering with some of my monthly students who have been practicing this approach, and I just want to show off a few of photos they shared, nice illustrations I believe of strong haiku.

Our Next Focus: aging

What we’re looking for: photos that capture what it means to grow older

Let’s focus on haiku’s awesome way of capturing the ephemerality of our lives, our brief time in this beautiful world, the funny way we feel important and simultaneously recognize our smallness. Can you see that around you? Can you share a composition reflecting this idea? Something personal and unique to you. We all get wiser with age, it’s a bittersweet tradeoff.

.

.

— M. H. Rubin

How to participate:

First, view Rubin’s site. Once your feel you have a grasp of the principles, take some photos that align with this month’s theme. Select your best, and submit them below by midnight May 31. Voting runs June 3 – 10. Results, commentary and the new topic will be announced here on troutswirl on June 15. Good luck!

Note: This isn’t haiga! There should be no text attached to your photos. What we are looking for is, precisely, haiku::photo!

Curated by internationally renowned photographer M. H. Rubin, haiku::photo is an opportunity to combine two areas of artistic knowledge. Anyone with a camera can explore the application of haiku principles to the craft of photography., first by viewing Rubin’s site, then by posting their best efforts related to our monthly theme here on the THF site. The result is a visual kukai, and results will be housed in the haiku::photo archive.