Nika (Jim Force) is a retired educator and former high school classmate of Jim McKinniss. Both graduated in 1964. Since then we have each gone our own way, Jim to southern California and Nika to Victoria, BC, connecting mainly via FaceBook. Nika’s poetic process begins by extended viewing and contemplation of one of Jim’s photos that captures his imagination. His selection of the photo to respond to and the haiku that eventually goes with it are highly influenced by Nika’s personal life experiences. He tries to create a haiku that reflects some unseen aspect of the photo and that adds to the emotional and experiential components of it. In composing the haiku, his intent is to leave a space between the photo and haiku that allows the viewer/reader an opportunity to fill in the gape from their own experience and imagination and to make sense of it in a manner that suits them.
Jim McKinniss is professional photographer who was a mathematician and software developer in a previous life. He is a self-educated photographer and Photoshop user. As part of his investigation into photography, he read about the history of art in general and particularly about photography. While reading about the history of photography, he grew to appreciate the style of photography called Pictorialism and that influences much of his work. However, that influence is not exhibited in these haiga. He tends to work in series. The longest series is his exploration of Venice, Italy during Carnival. This is an eleven-year project. The shortest series to date was 3 days. These photographs are selections from several of his series.
