Michael Kenna

The master of landscape

By: Cali Armstrong

Basic Information

Full name: Michael Kenna

Born in Widnes, England in 1953

He currently lives in Seattle, Washington

What is his style of photography?

Minimalist monochrome landscapes

Any special techniques?

All photos are in black and white

Uses very long exposures, often

several hours at a time (10-12)

Whom does he work for?

First worked for Ruth Bernhard- printed her

works for several years

Then had his first exhibition in San Francisco

in 1981, from then on he worked for himself

Put his photographs in galleries and

published many books

Camera information

Uses the basic model Hasselblads cameras

that were made in the 50s and 60s

Holga camera that most of his photographs

were taken with

He has also used Leica, Pentax, and Nikon

cameras over the years

He doesnt have a favorite type of camera,

and cant say that one is better than the
other.

Lighting information

He photographs all day and night

But the morning is his favorite

because that is when he feels most
in tune with his surroundings. He
feels the peace and quiet

His early influences

He grew up in a poor family and needed to

find something that he could make a living
out of.

Ruth Bernhard (Profession Photographer)

guided him through the business of
photography

While in Asia, he became fascinated by

the Japanese aesthetic of stark black and
white imagery

He learned styles from many different

photographers such as Eugene Atget,
Brandt, Brassai, and Stieglitz

Interesting stories

He spent over 10 years

photographing concentration
camps in Buchenwald from 19882000, then donated all of his
prints to the French state.

Why I chose this photographer

I love black and white photography

His story and prospective of photography

really inspires me

He travels all over the world to take his

photographs which is what I want to do

His photographs look so simple, yet so

interesting and complex

Interesting facts

He first wanted to become a priest

His images are featured in The Victoria

and Albert Museum in London, the
George Eastman House in Rochester New
York, and the San Francisco Museum of
Modern Art

Some of his commercial clients are BMW,

Audi, Rolls Royce, and Sprint

More work