Devouring Photobooks #19 — Hokkaido by Michael Kenna
Michael Kenna’s photography style
So far I have read two books by him. This one and “The Rouge”. I have also been following him on social media platforms, on which he posted more than 700 photograph. By looking at some of them, what caught my eyes was the skillful use of contrast. It is more apparent when we look at the photographs he made in snowy condition. The snow covered landscape reduced the distracting elements in the frame into white, combined with the use of high contrast, there is not a lot of mid-tone in these photographs, creating a minimal and visually striking look.
When I look at some of his photographs, I sometimes feel like they are a combination of different shapes of black and white. What I mean is the shadow and the highlight have dominated most of the photograph. Combined with the noticeable amount of grain often present in his works, they create a textured, painterly style.
The printing quality
The book has a luxurious feel to it. The paper is thick and textured, it reminds me of darkroom fibre paper, which is probably what the original photographs were printed on anyways.
What is notable is that the photographs are rather “warm”, close to a cream colour, which is an interesting contrast to the location where the photographs were taken at.
My take on landscape photography
I have ambivalent feelings regarding landscape photography. I feel most landscapes have already been photographed, so there is not much point in taking them.
After looking at Kenna’s work, my motivation toward taking landscape photographs has somewhat been ignited. I have also realised that it doesn’t have to be a piece of epic landscape to make good photographs.
Kenna’s style of photography has reminded me that you can “personalise” the piece of landscape so it becomes yours, doesn’t matter if you are trying new editing style, different types of gear, or even mashing up different mediums.
In my opinion, photography is a never-ending conversation that is always looking for innovation and uniqueness, and that is what we photographers are striving for.
Although I still have my reservations about landscape photography, I will be taking my medium format camera out more to take some landscape photographs in the near future.
