THE SEASON OF THE SOUL

This slim volume of haikus written by Anna Ferrante Arrigoni and inspired by photographs by Sasa Gyoker aims to fuse word and image in a balance predicated on simplicity.

Haikus - poetic compositions in three lines and seventeen morae (not syllables) following a 5-7-5 scheme - are defined by Roland Barthes as a "poetry of silences". Here, the graphic beauty of a Canadian winter becomes a source of unending inspiration not only for photographer and writer, but for readers as well.

Winter, the season of the soul, becomes a motor of research, first and foremost spiritual, of contemplation, and, naturally, of reflection. The snow, the stillness of nature, the opalescent light flooding the landscape and, last but not least, the solidity of the silence, are key elements in this photographic oeuvre. The very same simplicity is found in the brief but intense compositions written by Ferrante after letting her gaze become lost in Gyoker s work. The result is a crystalline meditation on nature and human emotion.

This refined volume is the first in a new series by 5 Continents Editions, the central element of which will be the dialogue between text and image. The series presents readers with a seemingly unprecedented invitation: to consider images and words with the same level of attention and depth of thought.

Text in English and Italian.