blog 4

Michael Kenna, an English black and white photographer known for his beautiful landscapes. Kenna was born in 1953 in Widnes, Lancashire, in England. Kenna studied at the Banbury School of Art for a year before getting into a three year program in London for printing. Later on in life he landed in the United States, San Francisco to be exact. There he met a woman named Ruth, a legendary photographer whom helped him with printing. He then later moved around to a few more states and then ended up in Washington.



Kenna is a monochromatic photographer, and as like most photographers adore adding color into their works, Kenna finds a beauty in grays, blacks, and whites. Kenna uses light as a source to expand his atypical pieces. Atypical means that he is able to produce images during dawn or night that are non representational. Kenna spends a lot of time going over his pieces of work, he calls himself an "observer" (cite) he likes to do more than just shoot shots, he likes to observe. He also tends to bring in traditional photography techniques with the latest photography techniques.

A specific piece I really took interest in was this one. The strict isolation in the photo is stunning. It is so isolated, but the object is perfectly placed in the middle. I also adore how Kenna captured the different lighting in the piece. The object in the middle really stands out as it is very dark and catches your eye. The object in the middle is the clean vocal point of this piece. The background of the sky also caught my eye. It is subtle and turns from darks to lights. The sky also fades into the focal point which takes my eye back to the center. Kenna's work consists of blacks, whites, and grays that work very well together to create beautiful landscapes.

-Bronwen Lewis