The PhotoHaiku ethos:

“A timeless range, influenced by the Zen tradition, that conveys a respectful connection with nature through beautiful fine art photography and original haiku poetry, produced sustainably.”

About Emma Clinton and the inspiration behind ‘PhotoHaiku’:

Emma Clinton was born in Derbyshire and spent a lot of time in her youth wandering in nature and walking in the Derbyshire Peak District with her father, who was an environmental campaigner in the 1970s. Both her parents instilled a deep appreciation of wild plants and flowers, natural landscapes and heritage. Having travelled widely, including time spent living in the Far East, Emma has now settled back in her native county. Seeing the loss of biodiversity and the challenges climate change is presenting, she is motivated by a desire to communicate the experience of nature-connectedness through her photography and poetry.

Images are captured mostly in the landscapes and villages of the Peak District National Park and Derbyshire Dales close to where Emma lives in Bakewell, the only town in the Peak District. Emma also regularly visits North Wales, and her photograph of Cwmorthin Quarry, newly designated as a World Heritage Site for its unique slate quarrying landscape, was selected for the North Wales Tourism 2021 calendar.

The influence of Japan on ‘PhotoHaiku’:

Emma is always in search of that Zen moment, when presence and connection with nature is experienced, then distilled into a timeless image. The play of light on landscapes, foliage and flowers is a passion.

Inspired by Japanese haiku poetry and haiga, Emma often writes haiku poems to accompany her images, - these short poems then feature on the reverse of card designs. The 'chop' or 'seal' of the PhotoHaiku logo reads 'haiku' in Japanese. There is a long tradition in both China and Japan of combining poetry and painting, for example the haiga of Basho.

Emma has an MA in Creative Writing and is a member of the Royal Photographic Society with whom she has recently completed a course on photographing at heritage locations. 'Hosta with Raindrops' (below) was shortlisted for the RPS members' competition on the theme of 'gardens'.

Any image on this site can be prepared as a high-quality, custom print, including options for framing - use the contact form to get in touch. Much of the PhotoHaiku stationery range is created in Emma’s home studio in Bakewell, using eco-friendly materials and printing methods.

For more information about traditional haiku poems see the followng links: http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/ and http://www.hsa-haiku.org/