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Why Words & Images Work Together So Well
There is a Japanese Art form of literature, called the Haiga. It consists of an image (a painting usually) and a Haiku. The small poem and the image may be loosely connected, or more loosely linked, but either way, a good Haiga is a thing of beauty!
Standing still
but always watching — two legs
but two wings too…
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That is an example of the Haiga form, not a great example perhaps, I’ve certainly done better, but for the purpose of this article, in is sufficient. Having an image of interest, and connecting it with a thought preferably with an ‘aha moment’ of new understanding is the aim for this kind of poem.
Haiku aims to bring new understanding through hinting at something, and while not everyone will necessarily ‘get’ every Haiga, or even every Haik, with the image, when the reader/observer does ‘get it’ it is an amazing thing. It brings a deeper understanding, and who wouldn’t want that?
I have written and had published Haiku in the past, but have never had a Haiga published, until right now, with this one. But I love this photograph, and I feel the marrying of the image and the words works well enough.
