Michael Kenna

Michael Kenna, a renowned British photographer, known for his beautiful black and white landscape photography was born on November 20^th 1953, in Lancashire, England. He was raised in a Catholic family and was the youngest of six. Kenna originally wanted to join the church, which influenced his disciplined, ethereal approach to photography. However, his passion for the arts ended up making him study at the Bandbury School of Arts and later the London College of Printing. He started his career as a commercial photographer where his early work focused on light, texture and mood, leading the way for his now celebrated style. In the 1970s he moved to San Francisco where he worked as a printer for Ruth Bernhard which helped improve his technical skills. Most of his early photography was mostly taken in the factories of Northern England where he managed to convert previously mundane settings and transform them into surreal landscapes, laying the stepping stones for his career ahead.

A lot of my previous work has focused on people and streat photography, however through Kenna I want to expand my horizons. His mystical landscapes have inspired me to explore new territories and discover brand new techniques. I want to take his style and implement it into my own and try and take more nature photography. This will allow me to have a more rounded approach to  my title “People and Places”. I will also expand on my black and white photography, trying to emulate Kenna’s surreal, mysterious style.

One of my favourite photographs by Kenna is of a wave crashing against a sea wall in Yorkshire. He perfectly captures the moment when the wave reaches its peak, froth spewing up into the air, creating a surreal image. The high contrast allows the viewer to see all the nooks and crannies within the wave, making them a cobweb of froth. This sense of surrealness is amplified by the image being black and white, further making the wave seem less and less like a wave. The viniette of the image also allows the viewer to focus in on the waves, not getting drawn to the edges of the frame. For me this photograph has transformed these two collosal waves in to towering mountains, showing their power and grandeture, Warping one thing into another.

Field of Snow, Bei, hokkaido, Japan, 2004:

Another image I adore by Michael Kenna is of a lonely, isolated tree in the snow. In this image there is something so delicate about the tree, its thin, brittle branches stretching out. This makes the tree appear like a sketch on a white canvas. I love this photo so much due to how simple, yet how effective it is. The plain white background forces the viewer to focus on the subject, unable to look at anything else, simply because there is nothing else to look at. This attention is emphasised by the juxtaposition of the black colour of the tree and the stark white of the background. Despite the 2 dimensional feal of the image there is just enough detail in the image to create some amount of depth. This is due to the slighter darker patch beneath the tree, conveying the peak of a hill. Overall, this image shows how simplicity can also be the best way to make an image beautiful.

Torii, Study 2, Takaishima, Biwa Lake

A photograph that I think captures what Michael Kenna’s photos is all about is a picture of a Torii gate in the sea. Kenna uses long exposure to make the sea appear flat and misty, creating an ethereal look. This is further shown in the sky with the blur of the clouds, creating movement, juxtaposing the stillness of the water below. Also the contrasting colourrs of black and white in the sky emphasises the sense of turmoil above. This ethereal feeling coming fromt this image is only made all the more stronger through the simbolic meaning of the Torii gates in Japanese culture. Torii gates marks the boundary between the human world and the divine world, symbolysing purification and the warding off of evil spirits. This changes the picture into a vision of capturing the divine realm and the human realm and showing the gateway inbetween.

Overall, Michael Kenna has had huge impacts on my landscape photography, making me focus on improving my use of light and structure. Allowing me to play with shapes and perspective. He has also inspired me to take more abstract images of shapes and structures. He is crucial in helping to inspire me in my places aspect of my title ‘People and Places’. In the future I also want to experiment with black and white photography, seeing how it will affect the view of my images. In conclusion, Michael Kenna will always be a photographer that I can learn from and lean to for inspiration for landscape photography.