The Places A Picture Can Take You: Inspiration From Michael Kenna

Pearl Lake Morning June 2021

Twenty Sticks by Michael Kenna

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There's a photo on the wall of my massage office: Twenty Sticks, by Michael Kenna. 
I have thought for years that Twenty Sticks was the name of a place, and over the last week I spent hours searching desperately for information on Twenty Sticks in Japan. For the story  behind this mysterious place. The result of my leaping down those umpteen rabbit holes? Twenty Sticks is not a location. 

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In fact, Kenna has other pieces with names like Six Sticks, Thirty Eight Sticks. You get the idea. I have not discovered exactly what those sticks are doing in the water, but it might be a fishing weir. In reading interviews and perusing his website, Kenna’s work goes well beyond the theme of unexpected sticks emerging from noir bodies of water.

Kenna has worked all over the world, and last year celebrated 50 years in the industry. Regardless of location or subject, his work is stunning. Twenty Sticks was taken in Kohoku, Honshu, Japan, in 2003. Kenna has returned to Japan several times as it holds a singular place in his heart. 

Born in 1953 in England, Kenna studied to become a Catholic Priest when he was quite young. He ended up enrolling in art school, and in the late 1970’s moved to San Francisco. By that time he was showing his photos in galleries, and he worked as assistant and printer for the esteemed photographer Ruth Bernhard for a decade. It was with her that he refined and developed his expert printing skills. Kenna, to this day, prints each one of his works in order to achieve the precise effect he wants. 

Achieving that precise effect also means working in conditions not all would consider ideal. He prefers snow, rain, and mist, very early mornings or nights. His work is only in black and white, as color brings an overabundance of sensation, and has the tendency to lose the mood created with black and white. Rather than produce an image that is a two-dimensional representation, Kenna aims to create a feeling. He prefers to work alone, and may spend hours or days in a location, getting the sense of the place. The final piece provides a three-dimensional space for the viewer to spend time in, to rest in, to explore. In this way, perhaps Twenty Sticks is indeed a location.

When I looked at some of the work on his website, I did not yet know how Kenna did things. Still, I could sense a quality, a sensation that went beyond the image. Even on my inexpensive laptop, seeing his pieces was an experience and I felt a myriad of emotions: awe with Wave, dread and horror with Crematorium Building, amazement with Torii, Study 4. I was even more amazed when I learned that in Japan, entrances to sanctuaries are often found in lakes since all of nature is considered sacred. 

Kenna’s approach to his work achieves his intention. His method - characterized by patience, calm, thoughtfulness, intention, and a willingness to immerse himself in a place or subject - has me thinking about my own work and my time in nature too. I appreciate Twenty Sticks even more these days, hanging on my wall, reminding me, encouraging me.

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