The Marriage of Poetry to Photography by Deborah P Kolodji   The marriage of poetry and photography is nothing new. Many coffee table books of photography use quotes and short poetry as photo captions. As a short poetry form, the cinquain is an excellent candidate for this purpose, although few photographers or photography publishers have taken advantage of this. An exception is the Elfonds, C.J. and Edna, who have published three books of photography using C.J.’s photos of their native Michigan with cinquain captions by Edna. Their first book, Roar of Thunder, Whisper of Wind, is a book of black and white photographs of Michigan Waterfalls. It was originally published in 1984 by Michigan Natural Resources Magazine and reprinted in 1994 by Thunder Bay Press (ISBN: 1-88-2376-02-1). It contains 17 of Edna’s cinquains as captions for C.J.’s photographs. A drop of time is lost But rivers of time carve Their impressions on the face of The earth. - Edna Elfond © 1984 Roar of Thunder, Whisper of Wind The Elfond’s second combined book of poetry and photography was Sand Dunes of the Great Lakes, Sleeping Bear Press, 1997 (ISBN: 1-886947-16-3) which was reviewed by Denis Garrison in the Spring 2006 issue of Amaze: The Cinquain Journal. It was followed by Harbor Wanderers: A Michigan Boating Experience, Sleeping Bear Press, 1999 (ISBN: 1-866947-19-8). Both of these later books are books of color photographs. Sand Dunes of the Great Lakes contains 34 cinquains and Harbor Wanderers contains 16 poems. In my own personal writing life, I enjoy journaling with cinquains, combining travel photos with cinquain captions, often writing them for the purpose of posting them to my poetry blog. A trip to Yellowstone National Park inspired me to write the following photo/cinquain pair, written originally as a tanka to compliment my photograph: Steamy, even after all these years together - never boring, my old faithful lover. After a visit to Zion National Park, where I was inspired to write a lot of short poems and maxed out my camera’s memory card, I matched a cinquain with a photo for a blog post. Cinquain, tanka, and haiku all work well with photography for travel diaries and blog photo journaling. Red rock in the canyons, cathedrals of nature – a song dog howls its lonely hymn at dawn.   However, the marriage of cinquains and photography can go beyond simple captioning and journaling. The Japanese haiga is an integrated art/poetry form which combines art or photography with a haiku. Several English language haiku journals publish photo haiga. The Autumn 2007 issue of Simply Haiku published this haiga by Amaze contributor Susan Constable: In this case, the haiku moves beyond the starkness of the bird silhouette in the bare branches. The juxtaposition of lone bird with "his sweater/still in my closet" gives the reader a profound sense of mourning for the man who once wore that sweater and how lonely the author is now without him. The same effect could be done with a cinquain.   Notice how the completely different tone of this poem changes the perception of the photograph. This haiga has more of a whimsical upbeat feel to it as compared to the sadness of the first one. So, the addition of a poem can change the perception of the tone and the mood of a photograph, depending upon which elements of the photograph the poem compliments. In Constable’s first haiga, the poem highlights the fact that the bird is alone on the branch, giving the reader a sense of loneliness. In the second haiga, the poem highlights the fact that the bird is near the top of the tree. The end result is a sense of triumph over adversity. Amaze contributor and CinquainPoets member Linda Papanicolaou edits the webzine HaigaOnline, which publishes both art and photography combinations with haiku, and I asked her what she looks for in a haiga. "I look for haiga in which the poem and the image each bring something to the whole, and a whole that is more than the sum of its parts. A lot of people come to haiga these days via photography. That can be a problem because it's the poetry, not the image, that is what the haiga hangs on. I've observed that photo haiga may actually be harder to write than simple art haiga. This is because photographs are so complete as artistic statements. If we like a photograph enough to choose to write for it, the likelihood is that the photo will dominate the haiga and the poem may be stillborn.  This is especially true for beginners but it's even a problem for experienced poets who are new to haiga. Hence the commonest problem: a poem that merely tells us what we're seeing in the image.." - Linda Papanicolaou In this poem, Papanicolaou illustrates her philosophy. There are no sandpipers in the photo, but one can imagine them strolling just out of the range of the camera lens. There is no beached sea jelly in the poem, but it isn’t difficult to imagine one as part of the imagistic scene described. So, the poem does not merely describe the photograph. If we look at the poem away from its image: Asilomar beach break – sandpipers stroll along the littoral; a piece of kelp folds back into the sea The poem stands alone as a fine cinquain, with its use of alliteration and assonance to give the ear an audio sense of ocean. The poem doesn’t need the image and the image would be interesting on its own, yet they compliment each other in a very pleasing way and the net effect goes beyond the poem or the photo alone to give a more complete sense of the beach at Asilomar. As Papanicolaou puts it, "Haiga is a linked form and the meaning lies in the connection that a reader draws between image and poem." Just as haiku can use juxtaposition to create additional meaning from each of its parts, a well-crafted haiga can accomplish the same purpose. On the cover of the Summer 2007 issue of Amaze, Naia’s mirror cinquain juxtaposed the yellow of the koi photograph with a yellow sash: The contrast of the yellow of the koi to the blackness which surrounds it also gives a sash-like effect, which works beautifully with the poem. This is just one of the many wonderful covers contributors of Amaze have produced. I invite you to browse through the online archives to enjoy the others. Although cinquain photo haiga is a relatively new phenomenon and is still in its honeymoon years, I’m looking forward to many more years of this happy union.

Return to the front page of this issue:   Amaze   Vol. 6, No. 1   Go to the Poets & Authors page for the poet's biographical sketch and email link. All poems are copyright © 2008 by their respective authors.