Jim McKinniss: This group of photographs is heavily influenced by the work of Japanese photographer Masao Yamamoto. Each photograph represents the tenuous balance of life in all its forms. Each photograph was made in studio with a white background and then edited using Photoshop to add texture and tone. The friend whose studio I used had just been diagnosed with a fatal and incurable disease. Reading Nika’s verses tells me that he senses some of the things that I discovered about my own work.

Nika: Independent from Jim, I ordered the photos and studied them until I had a sense of the mood they expressed. From there I composed the verses without any consultation with him. Once I was happy with what I had written I shared it with Jim. Given the simplicity of this set of photos, I’ve intentionally kept the verses quite brief with the intention of giving the viewer adequate space to fully experience image and verse as one.

Jim McKinniss, who lives in southern California, is the photographer. His work can be viewed here and on facebook

Nika is the pen name of Jim Force when creating haiku. He resides in Victoria, BC. While most of his haiku and related works have been published in print journals, he does post haiku regularly on his facebook page