For this project piece, I have decided to study landscape photography, in particular the work of Michael Kenna who has a very interesting style and has greatly influenced my perception of slow shutter speed photography. Quiet and tranquil on the surface, his photographs deserve more than a casual glance. I feel they need to be considered in depth to be fully appreciated.
The simplicity in his composition, the use of black and white film and his mastery of exposure control, merges with a sense of solitude which ultimately creates a unique form of photography that I find extremely inspirational and intriguing. His mysterious photographs, often made at dawn or in the dark hours of night, concentrate on the interaction between natural landscapes and man-made structures. His photographs are beautiful images which both engage and challenge the viewer with their poignant tension. Although Kenna never photographs people within the land, he has the eerie ability to give trees, fountains and statues a meditative human presence. Michael Kenna infuses his work with a solitary sense of place, capturing moments of calmness. He gives us a view of beauty in the landscape and a sense of timelessness in our modern-day world.
