This document describes Yugen Photography's photographic haiga portfolio by Alan Stacy. Haiga are a style of Japanese art that combines poetry and imagery. Yugen prints combine photographs with poetry, Zenga brushwork, and washi textures to create meditative artworks exploring themes of impermanence, interconnectedness, and the mystery behind the world. The portfolio includes examples of Stacy's haiga artworks along with the poems and quotes they incorporate. It also describes how custom haiga can be made combining a customer's photograph with a special poem.

1. YUGEN PHOTOGRAPHY
Photographic Haiga Portfolio by Alan Stacy

3. “YUGEN” IS A SENSE, A SIGHT, A SOUND, THAT REVEALS – FOR A
BRIEF MOMENT – THE MYSTERY BEHIND THE WORLD. YUGEN IS
THE SUBSTANCE BEHIND A HAIKU MOMENT. THE DETAIL THAT
MAKES YOU TAKE A SECOND LOOK AT A PHOTOGRAPH OR
PAINTING AND HOLDS YOUR EYE. IT IS AN IMAGE THAT PORTRAYS
“KARUMI” – “A LIGHT BEAUTY WITH SUBTLETY, SUCH AS A
SHALLOW RIVER OVER A SANDY BED” (BASHO).

5. YUGEN COMPOSITIONS ARE DIGITAL “HAIGA” BASED ON A STYLE
OF JAPANESE PAINTING AND THE AESTHETICS OF HAIKU POETRY.
IN HAIGA, POETRY AND IMAGERY COMBINE TO REVEAL THE
MYSTERY OF SIMPLE, AND HOPEFULLY PROFOUND, OBSERVATIONS
OF THE EVERYDAY WORLD.
IN YUGEN PRINTS, PHOTOGRAPHS COMBINE WITH POETRY, ZENGA,
AND WASHI TEXTURES TO CREATE MEDITATIVE ARTWORK.

6. CONTINENT’S END

7. CONTINENT’S END
Pt Lobos silhouetted
against the sun and ocean
fogs often looks like an
Asian brush painting on
silk. Here a high-contrast
photograph simulates the
feeling. When you see Point
Lobos in the autumn mists
you instinctively
understand the haiku:
Fog misted hills
The setting sun
Nothing else

8. IMPERMANENCE

9. IMPERMANENCE
The ginkgo tree is one of the
most ancient surviving trees in
the world. Since the species
first appeared in the Early
Jurassic period and is little
changed in form, I think of it as
a good foil for three precepts
of Buddhism: nonduality,
impermanence, and suffering.
For while the ginkgo race has
lasted, it has been tested by
changes in Gaia's climate. The
original domain of the ginkgo
is all but gone and the tree is
common only because
mankind has adopted it and
spread it far and wide.

10. INTERCONNECTEDNESS

11. INTERCONNECTEDNESS
A koi pond in Oahu, Buddhist
temple gardens.
The condition of “beingness”
implies interconnectedness,
interdependence, and
interpenetration. One
seemingly separate being
cannot “be” without all other
beings - is therefore not a
separate self but part of a
greater self that is alive and
has reflexive awareness within
its larger self. -- Roshi Halifax
Interconnectedness indeed.

12. WHAT WE HAVE BECOME

13. WHAT WE HAVE BECOME
Carmel poet George Lober
imagines the intertwined
nature of a long marriage:
“should one fall / part of
the other would surely
break”.
The character “Shi” in
brushwork symbolizes the
“art of poetry”, which we
should all strive for whether
walking in the forest,
working, or loving.

14. I WAS THE STREAM

15. I WAS THE STREAM
Designed as a hanging Zen scroll, this
composition consists of a digital photograph,
either a scanned Japanese Maple leaves or a
Torii Zenga drawing, on washi paper
background, centered on a bark hanger
sheet. Poem fragment from Robinson Jeffers’
"The Tower Beyond Tragedy":
I was the stream
Draining the mountain wood;
and I the stag drinking;
and I was the stars boiling with light,
wandering alone,
each one the lord of his own summit;
and I was the darkness
Outside the stars, I included them,
they were a part of me.

16. ROOTS AND SPHERES

17. ROOTS AND SPHERES
"The roots of all living things are
tied together. Deep in the ground
of being they tangle and embrace."
Inspired by the writings of Roshi
Joan Halifax ("The Fruitful
Darkness"), I found this tangle of
roots and stones exposed in old
Monterey. The sumi brushwork is a
quick symbolization of the spheres
that support all life: geosphere,
biosphere, atmosphere, and the
sphere of our sun.

18. PT LOBOS SOUTH WIND

19. PT LOBOS SOUTH WIND
Pt Lobos, south of Monterey
and Carmel California, is a
magical state park. This view is
from Carmel Point and is
coupled with a few lines from
Robinson Jeffers describing
the first rains of winter.
Jeffers lived at Tor House with
this view of Pt Lobos every day
of his adult life. It is an
inspiration to all who visit.

20. ENTANGLED BUDDHA

21. ENTANGLED BUDDHA
A small statue of Buddha,
forgotten among the vines and
fallen petals, waits patiently to be
noticed -- or not.
Entangled in vines
The forgotten Buddha
Time to go

22. CLEAR LIGHT OF PRESENCE

23. CLEAR LIGHT OF PRESENCE
Life grows out of the dirt. Life
passes back into the ground. A
spirit rises up. All things come
full circle into the clear light of
presence.
In life, rooted in earth
In death, flight
A clear light of presence

24. WABI SABI MAN

25. WABI SABI MAN
A rusting metal buoy pulled up on the
wharf. Get closer. Very close. The
landscape shifts and tilts. The wabi sabi
nature is revealed in the colors, patterns,
and holes of a manmade object, left to
dissolve in the natural world. If man
makes it, man must be a part of it.
"Heaven is my father
and earth is my mother
and even such a small creature as I
finds an intimate place in its midst.
- Chang-tsa, 11th century China

26. CUSTOM HAIGA

27. CUSTOM HAIGA
Do you have a favorite digital photograph?
Perhaps a landscape from a special vacation.
A stretch of seashore you visited. A lake you
swam in on a summer morning. A mountain you
once hiked with your kids. A stream at which
you lingered with your best friend.
Combine your favorite image with a special
poem or inspiring quote and you have a
custom haiga for your home.
Yugen Photography can artfully combine your
photograph and poem into a personal collage.
Perfect for remembering a special occasion,
anniversary, birthday, or life event.

29. YUGEN PHOTOGRAPHY
WWW.YUGENPHOTOGRAPHY.COM
ASTACY@HAIKU-PRODUCTIONS.COM
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