Michael Kenna - Fifty Years

Presented in partnership with G.Gibson Projects
August 3 - September 2, 2023
Artist’s Reception: First Thursday, August 3, 6-8 PM
Book Signing: Saturday, August 26, 2-4 PM

2023 marks 50 years of photography by British artist Michael Kenna. Celebrated as one of the world’s most prominent landscape photographers, Kenna is known for his poetic black & white images from around the globe. The Harris Harvey Gallery exhibit will highlight works from the last 3 decades, with the following countries represented in Kenna’s travels – France, Japan, China, Italy, Myanmar, South Korea, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the U.S. The exhibition is presented in partnership with G.Gibson Projects, Seattle, Washington.

Michael Kenna (British, b. 1953) was born in Widnes, England. His mysterious photographs, often made at dawn or in the dark hours of night, concentrate primarily on the interaction between the natural landscape and human-made structures. Kenna is both a diurnal and nocturnal photographer, fascinated by times of day when light is at its most pliant. His long time-exposures, which might last throughout the night, often record details in the photographs that the human eye is not able to perceive.

Michael Kenna - Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire, Study 4, France. 2022, gelatin silver print, 8 x 8 in.

Michael Kenna - Floating Abbey, Mont St. Michel, France. 2000, gelatin silver print, 8 x 8 in.

Michael Kenna - Bookstalls, Study 2, Paris, France. 2011, gelatin silver print, 8 x 8 in.

Michael Kenna - James Island, Study 4, La Push, Washington. 2014, gelatin silver print, 8 x 8 in.

Michael Kenna - Avenue of the Giants, Humbolt, California, USA. 1998, gelatin silver print, 8 x 8 in.

Michael Kenna - Shaman Rock, Toya Lake, Hokkaido, Japan. 2018, gelatin silver print, 8 x 8 in.

Michael Kenna - White Copse, Study 4, Wakkanai, Hokkaido, Japan. 2020, gelatin silver print, 15.5 x 16.5 in.

Michael Kenna - Shimanami Kaido, Study 1, Kagawa, Shikoku, Japan. 2022, gelatin silver print, 8 x 8 in.

Michael Kenna - Torii, Study 4, Takashima, Honshu, Japan. 2007, gelatin silver print, 8 x 8 in.

Michael Kenna - Fishing Nets and Mt. Daisen, Yatsuka, Honshu, Japan. 2002, gelatin silver print, 8 x 8 in.

Michael Kenna - Still Morning, Obama, Honshu, Japan. 2002, gelatin silver print, 8 x 8 in.

Michael Kenna - Blackstone Hill Tree, Hokkaido, Japan. 2020, gelatin silver print, 8 x 8 in.

Michael Kenna - Tranquil Morning, Awaji Island, Shikoku, Japan. 2002, gelatin silver print, 8 x 8 in.

Michael Kenna - Taushubetsu Bridge, Nukabira, Hokkaido, Japan. 2008, gelatin silver print, 8 x 8 in.

Michael Kenna - Fourteen Trees, Higashikawa, Hokkaido, Japan. 2009, gelatin silver print, 8 x 8 in.

Michael Kenna - Spruce Tree and Snow Clouds, Esashi, Hokkaido, Japan. 2023, gelatin silver print, 8 x 8 in.

Michael Kenna - Birds on Poles, Biwa Lake, Honshu, Japan. 2001, gelatin silver print, 8 x 8 in.

Michael Kenna - Hillside Fence, Study 9, Teshikaga, Hokkaido, Japan. 2023, gelatin silver print, 8 x 8 in.

Michael Kenna - Erhai Lake, Study 12, Yunnan, China. 2014, gelatin silver print, 8 x 8 in.

Michael Kenna - Seaweed Farms, Study 3, Xiapu, Fujian, China. 2010, gelatin silver print, 8 x 8 in.

Michael Kenna - Lijiang River, Study 11, Guilin, China. 2006, gelatin silver print, 8 x 8 in.

Michael Kenna - Yuanyang, Yunnan, China, Study 6, China. 2013, gelatin silver print, 16.25 x 15.5 in.

Michael Kenna - Reflected Tree, Hongkun, Anhui, China. 2007, gelatin silver print, 8 x 8 in.

Michael Kenna - Aquaculture Structure, Boseong, Jeollanam-do, South Korea. 2018, gelatin silver print, 8 x 8 in.

Michael Kenna - Ortucchio Lake Reflection, Fucino, Abruzzo, Italy. 2016, gelatin silver print, 8 x 8 in.

Michael Kenna - Morning Clouds, Pacentro, Abruzzo, Italy. 2016, gelatin silver print, 8 x 8 in.

Michael Kenna - Ponti de Spagna, Bondeno, Ferrara, Italy. 2018, gelatin silver print, 8 x 8 in.

Michael Kenna - Spring Poplar Trees, Pavia, Italy. 2019, gelatin silver print, 8 x 8 in.

Michael Kenna - Wanaka Lake Tree, Study 1, Otago, New Zealand. 2013, gelatin silver print, 8 x 8 in.

Michael Kenna - Six Flying Birds, Bath, Avon, England. 1987, gelatin silver print, 8 x 8 in.

Michael Kenna - Morning Mists, Pyin U Lwin, Myanmar. 2019, gelatin silver print, 8 x 8 in.

Michael Kenna - Happy Birthday Freya, Geneva, Switzerland. 2021, gelatin silver print, 8 x 8 in.

During Michael Kenna’s career, his photographs have been shown in over five hundred one-person gallery and museum exhibitions throughout the world, and are included in over a hundred permanent institutional collections, including; The Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris; The Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The National Gallery, Washington, D.C.; The Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai; and The Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Michael Kenna received the prestigious Officer des Arts et des Lettres medal in Paris in 2022.

Over ninety monographs and exhibition catalogs have been published on Kenna’s work, including Michael Kenna – A Twenty Year Retrospective (Treville, 1994 and Nazraeli Press, 2000); Japan (Nazraeli Press and Treville Editions, 2003); Michael Kenna – A Retrospective (BnF, 2009); China (Posts and Telecom Press, 2014); France (Nazraeli Press, 2014); Forms of Japan (Prestel, 2015); Rouge (Prestel 2016); Beyond Architecture – Michael Kenna (Prestel 2019) ; Buddha (Prestel 2020); Northern England 1983-1986 (Nazraeli Press 2021); Flesh of Stone (Noir Editions 2022); Arbres/Trees (Skira Editions 2022).