Michael Kenna

 Michael Kenna: A 45 Year Odyssey 1973-2018' | The Japan Times

Michael Kenna is an incredible landscape photographer. A lot of his photos look like charcoal drawings with soft edges and smooth tones. His photos seem to capture the desolation of the world as they often have one main subject or are uniform across the picture. Contrasting from the previous photographers we researched, Kenna seems to find the beauty in simplicity instead of chaos, and by doing this he is sending a more straight forward message. Often, there is one piece of the picture that the viewer keeps going back to. 

Kenna also uses negative space and makes typically boring backgrounds hold a serenity and whimsical yet dreary mood to the photos. Another feature I have notices is most of his photos are taken at night or in the early morning. By doing this, the lighting is different from most other photographer's photos and often times there is fog. Fog can completely change the way a photo would turn out by acting as a wall between what's up close and far away, and also creating a dream like effect. Many of these pictures are taken at night, which means he uses long exposure times, some most likely hours and hours long. By doing this, the camera is able to capture something we would not otherwise be able to see. When we think of photography, usually I think of capturing one moment in time, not many moments, but this technique can be used in beautiful ways, as seen in Kenna's work. 

Michael Kenna, A Taste of Paradise - The Eye of Photography Magazine

Photographer of the Month Interview: Michael Kenna | Aperture Academy

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