Michael Kenna

Teach. Wasgood.

So you asked us to look at Michael Kenna huh? I was curious because obviously the photographer normally has to do with whatever we've been learning in class and the class before it's due is all about the reflections (I think?) assignment.
    The first thing that popped up for me about Michael Kenna is that he "is one of the most acclaimed landscape photographers of his generation with a truly global audience for his work. He has held over 475 solo exhibitions in 40 countries and his photographs have been the subject of over 70 monographs. To date his prints are held in the permanent collections of over 100 museums worldwide." (from https://boshamgallery.com/artists/51-michael-kenna/biography/) Which is a little pompous. However I do see the same sentiments reflected most places I go (even if some of his selfies are pretty steve jobsy) so I'm trusting that this guy is pretty good. He apparently likes cloudy moody things compared to clear blue skies and colors which is why he picked black and white photography as his medium. Preeeetty edgy. I think although his reasons for black and white seem pretty simple he must be genuinely talented because his works are distributed in gallery's all over the world and he has multiple awards from varied countries.
    So, I looked at some of his works and uh.. I'm not sure I get the hype? Don't get me wrong, hes insanely talented and his pictures are mechanically perfect, I mean he gets composition down pat and his color control is beautiful but, emotionally they just strike me as kind of empty? I don't really see any meaning or feelings to uncover. I think they are great photos though
    Ah! I figured out why. Most critics show really really lame basic ones. I found a few that really interest me that I'll showcase. Overrall I think the amount and the variety of photo's that I've found digging a little deeper do actually explain the amount of praise. He reminds me of the last photographer I did with him being more of an explorer than a photographer. But yeah. Michael Kenna! Cool dude, around the same amount of cool photos.
INTERVIEW WITH MICHAEL KENNA
Micheal Kenna Photography | Jackson Fine Art

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Anne Arden McDonald

Image
 This photographer feels like she has an obsession with capturing motion in time, I feel a sort of energy from her images that its not about the look of the photo but the strokes? The way that the chemical has fallen and formed and the lack of controlling, but almost using the natural nature of liquid to pull something out of the ether and create this photo. I also get a very heavy sense of scientist + artist, some of these remind me of looking into a microscope, cells.  As well as my favorite image, which will be below, that reminds me of a neuron impulse. Anne seems to obsessed with spheres, or things that resemble or are in the shape of circles, and it is a very interesting one, I like the way she makes them, I also notice her works are title things as burst, or flow, or corpuscle, molecule, and even mold. I'm curious if that's the things she uses or if its the vibes she gets from these photos, which sort of confirms my ideas? Or maybe not. Art is subjective and the viewer ...
Read more

Chip Simons

Image
 Hello ANDREAS! I hath decided upon the man known as chip simons, because his work inspired the first of my color series! he seems pretty cool. i like the way he uses light and color, wow… almost as if that’s why you picked him. Anyways. it was a struggle to find his series as he doesn’t seem to have a website. however I did find one. That was his series on surrealism. I have to say, his use of scale in images is very masterful. And the perspectives are great too, it seems like he specifically enjoys using the fisheye lens/ distorting the scale of objects and people. I quite enjoy it because it takes me away from the real world, and makes his images more fantastical, which is his style, therefore it’s not distracting to me but instead sets the stage of his style and becomes a integration of the image.  I think my favorite of his works are the ones that are more based in real life but become almost fantastical in nature due to his style over the more surrealism, and especially ...
Read more

John Dugdale

Image
 John Dugdale was a super interesting photographer to research and the background information of him being blind really stuck with me as I looked at his works. I feel like maybe their like most art, a perception of his view and feelings, the stillness and grandeur but also sadness that is so vivid because of the blue paints a lonesome but tall image of who he saw himself as. I’m not sure that I’ll be doing any cyanotypes quite on his level but I think that he’s a great artist and expresses a school of thought on how you could use this technique. The photos that stood out most to me were the ones where he had the same expression but was in different areas, it sort of grasps how regardless of where he is the feeling of not being apart of that world always lingers, i don’t know if that’s what he was going for but I love that regardless, I also really like the ones where he makes almost collages in the cyanotype which is the image I chose to use.  I’m not sure if this is actually ...
Read more