While teaching in Japan, Bob Butkus used haiku to teach English to his Japanese students. He then began writing the very brief three-line poems for his own enjoyment.
That was 17 years ago, and over a career including 15 years as principal of the Powell River campus of Vancouver Island University (VIU), Butkus has been creating photographs for six decades and writing poetry for five.
In an upcoming exhibition, Butkus, who has a PhD in philosophy, has combined his haiku and photography to create photo haiga. Traditional Japanese haiga combines painting or ink drawing with haiku, and Butkus was inspired to follow this practice and adapt it to his own passions.
He finds that the photograph comes first and then a haiku comes to mind that will work with the image. The result can be seen in his exhibit called Stillness, which opens with a reception from 7 to 9 pm on Thursday, February 7 at Malaspina Exhibition Centre in the foyer of VIU. Stillness can be viewed until March 5.
Butkus is also the author of the book Godless Religion: Finding the Profound. His photo haiga aims to capture the quiet moments in which the profound can often be found.
