Baikal Zen

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This sequence interleaves eleven short poems of place, with an equal number of treated photographs by the author, which have asemic qualities, in that they use lines and symbols that may look like writing, but which carry no intrinsic meaning in themselves. Each poem, in some way, references writing and/or reading; the accompanying images are intended not only as illustrations, but as images to be read in some way on their own terms.

The title refers to a natural phenomenon in Lake Baikal, Siberia. Rocks falling onto the ice of the lake are heated by the sun. The ice melts, then re-freezes at night, leaving the rocks suspended on tiny frozen waves – a phenomenon known as ‘Baikal Zen’.