These eight interpretive photos are about imagining Matsuo Bashō’s 17th century poetry in the soft, springtime light of the Nakasendo Trail during Samurai Japan. In March of 2019, my friend and collaborator T.R. Reid and I hiked parts of the Nakasendo Trail, an ancient highway that winds through preserved villages and across mountain passes between Nagoya and Tokyo, Japan. The famous haiku poet Matsuo Bashō came this way in 1684 and inspired me to create this project. The Japanese calligraphy of the haiku were created by T.R. Reid on rice paper. (T.R. Reid is a journalist and author who has reported from all over the world for The Washington Post, NPR, PBS and National Geographic).
"Cedar Forest" With plum blossom scent, this morning sun emerges along a mountain trail
" Tsumago Village" You weren’t home when I came even the plum blossoms were in another yard
"Bamboo Grove" The ivy’s been planted four or five bamboo stalks rattle in the storm
"Broom" Sweeping the garden, forget all about snow! A household broom.
"Waterfall" There we did begin secluded in that waterfall our summer retreat
"Mountain Pass" I climbed into air high above the skylarks scaling a summit
"Harmony" (One of the most important symbols in Japanese culture)
"Young Sumo Going to Work" (Looking tired before the workday begins)