Michael Kenna’s photographic journey spans over five decades, rooted in a philosophy of patience, reverence, and poetic simplicity. Born into a working-class Irish Catholic family in northern England, Kenna’s early life shaped his enduring sense of humility and devotion. Initially drawn to the priesthood, he ultimately found his spiritual path in photography — a vocation that has taken him across the globe, and most intimately, across the landscapes of Japan. His work reflects a deep appreciation of stillness and beauty.
“On my first visit to Japan, I was blown away by the aesthetics, the spiritual and religious aspects, the curiosity of the people, their friendliness and generosity. Later, I went up to Northern Hokkaido in the middle of winter, and it looked to me like a stark sumi-e ink painting, a white canvas with Kanji characters marked on it. I’ve been in love with the place ever since.” (Michael Kenna)
Kenna’s images are composed with care and quietude, often made using long exposures.
He is particularly renowned for the intimate scale of his photographs and his meticulous analogue process of printing each image by hand. His exquisite silver gelatin prints have been exhibited throughout the world and are included in such permanent museum collections as The Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris; The Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo; The National Gallery, Washington, D.C.; The Shanghai Art Museum; and The Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Over ninety monographs and exhibition catalogs have been published on Kenna’s work, including; A Twenty Year Retrospective (Treville, 1994 /Nazraeli Press, 2002); Japan (Nazraeli Press, 2003); Retrospective Two (Nazraeli Press, 2004); Hokkaido (Nazraeli Press, 2006); In Japan (RAM, Japan, 2006); In Hokkaido (RAM, Japan, 2009); Michael Kenna Retrospective (Bibliotheque Nationale de France, 2009); Huangshan (Nazraeli Press, 2010); In France (RAM, Japan, 2011); France (Nazraeli Press 2014); Forms of Japan (Prestel, 2015); Photographs & Stories(Nazraeli Press, 2023); Venice. Memories and Traces (Skira Edition, 2024); and Japan / A Love Story (Nazraeli Press,2024).
In 2022, Mr. Kenna was made an Officer in the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture.