haiku::photo 8 — mornings

The Haiku Foundation welcomes you to haiku::photo.

M. H. Rubin says

Greetings photographer-poets,

There were fewer submissions this month, which I hope is not so much a sign of your interest but rather the coming of summer schedules.

This month’s winners:

Beverly Jay

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

It’s a cool little moment, and the juxtaposition and simplicity are clear. It’s nicely on topic and executed beautifully, and doesn’t feel too constructed to me. It reminds me of some of the great work of photographer Elliot Erwitt (check out his work), but in particular, this one:

Anne Fox

This second one doesn’t feel as much on topic, but I think it’s a strong haiku — subtle, quiet, evocative, curious. I like its simplicity and mystery. It might be harder to see the haiku in it, but hopefully you’ll give it some time.

Honorable mentions:

Dan Campbell

I like this simple shot, and it has many haiku attributes – I gave it an honorable mention only because it is a little obvious (I’ve seen this shot before) and also a bit too perfect again, the hat and cane are nice, but too nice for me.

Dan Campbell

This next one is sweet, but it feels a little on the nose, and maybe even set-up. But maybe most importantly, it only has a single beat. There’s the subject, and that’s it. Compare that to this submission back in March – which feels to me both more authentic and comprised of a couple beats. And if we keep going on this theme, I wanted to share another photo by the master Elliott Erwitt, who captured the same sort of image but with far more haiku-feeling to me than the others.

Compare Erwitt to the other submissions – doesn’t it feel more real, more natural, more in context, more delight in the ordinary? Erwitt, like Henri Cartier-Bresson, seemed to thrive in this space. I hope they inspire.

How did our voters see it?

Our Next Focus: mornings

What we’re looking for: photos that capture your morning rituals

A haiku should be a reasonably ordinary moment, and the moments we often don’t notice are the everyday things that happen over and over—until they don’t. Take a look at your mornings, what is something so ordinary you’d never think to document it, but it’s very personal, very unique to you, and oddly sweet. Can you find that in your day and reflect it in your haiku-photo?

— 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.