Michael Kenna Exhibition, Banbury, Oxon UK

I think Kenna rarely, if ever, prints more than 10 inches square from what I have read. I think that what you are seeing in the skies is the result of very long exposures: he often exposes at night/dawn/dusk with exposures of up to several hours.

To me they look like split-toned selenium/sepia but I could easily be barking up the wrong tree as I've only seen reproductions so far and my colourblindness does not help....

I was going this week but it got too busy at work (which is a good thing, no, honest, it is...).

Cheers, Bob.

I saw this yesterday. I have both his "Retrospective " books, and I've seen exhibitions of his work, so perhaps I felt just a tiny bit disappointed that there weren't more prints there I hadn't seen before. And of course the thing about his books is that the reproduction is excellent by comparison with most, so seeing the "real thing" behind glass isn't as different as it would be with many photographers.

I did get the chance a year or so ago to handle some of his mounted prints that weren't protected by glass, and that was an experience I'd recommend if it ever comes your way. I don't know how he tones his work either, but it is clear that it hasn't remained the same throughout his active career. The older material at this exhibit seemed pretty neutral to me; the more recent came across as warm, sometimes vaguely cream/yellow; sometimes sofly pinkish; sometimes affecting the highlights, other times not.

For anyone with even a vague interest in his work, and who hasn't seen his prints before, I'd recommend it. His standards are high.

Inspirational

APUGer CrispinUK and myself visited the exhibition today along with my wife and daughter. I think that we were all spell-bound. The relatively small size of the images is perfect for Kenna's work. The size enhances the amazing way that he seems to create enormous contrast between the key elements of the scene and still manages to delivery some of the most delicate, soft-toned details elsewhere.

I found that the originals had higher contrast than the images in my copy of 'Japan' - a stunning book in all respects.

We too wondered at his methods of toning. my guess was also along the lines of selenium/sepia but whatever combination he uses he does it beautifully. I'd also love to know how he burns his images. The key dark elements are always pitch black and given their tack-sharp outlines I can only assume that he creates very accurate masks. Note that I'm a beginner when it comes to printing so others may have a much better idea of how he achieves his results.

Any insider info would be gratefully received.

If you're able to get to Banbury I'd highly recommend a visit. They'd run out of books to sell today but are expecting more soon.

Following our visit to Banbury we drove down to the Vale of the White Horse to take some black and white shots of The Manger and Wayland's Smithy. The skies had brightened for a while earlier in the day but turned resolutely grey during our time on The Ridgeway - c'est la vie - we still had a great time and exposed a couple of rolls of 120 film.

Barry

Quote from interview with Kenna in Black & White magazine (UK publication) in August 2003:

'All my prints are very slightly sepia toned. It's basically so the highlights become a little warmer and the shadows stay quite cold. It kind of inverses the way we normally see a print because usually the dark shapes come forward and the light shapes go back. Somehow it gives an extra dimension to the print. I've been toning in the same way for almost 30 years now.'

Les

bwakel said:

Following our visit to Banbury we drove down to the Vale of the White Horse to take some black and white shots of The Manger and Wayland's Smithy. The skies had brightened for a while earlier in the day but turned resolutely grey during our time on The Ridgeway - c'est la vie - we still had a great time and exposed a couple of rolls of 120 film.

Barry

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Barry - that's one of my favourite places - I've often spent the night at Waylands Smithy - would like to see how your pics turned out - I've never really got any successful pics of the area - I think it's all too "big" to capture on film.

I'm off to the exhibition this weekend - any tips for where to stay overnight? Is Banbury a nice place?

Leon said:

Barry - that's one of my favourite places - I've often spent the night at Waylands Smithy - would like to see how your pics turned out - I've never really got any successful pics of the area - I think it's all too "big" to capture on film.

I'm off to the exhibition this weekend - any tips for where to stay overnight? Is Banbury a nice place?

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Leon, it must be pretty spooky at Wayland's Smithy over night. Was anything going on or was it a lone vigil?

I'll post a print of a shot of The Manger. I've only scanned it so far but it looks like it might make a nice print. I'll hopefully get round to printing it next week.

I don't know Banbury at all well. The Museum's right on the canal and the whole area has been nicely re-developed. You're actually some way from the town centre. I understand that the centre's quite oldie-worldy and quite attractive so you'll probably find somewhere to stay.

Barry

bwakel said:

Leon, it must be pretty spooky at Wayland's Smithy over night. Was anything going on or was it a lone vigil?

I'll post a print of a shot of The Manger. I've only scanned it so far but it looks like it might make a nice print. I'll hopefully get round to printing it next week.

I don't know Banbury at all well. The Museum's right on the canal and the whole area has been nicely re-developed. You're actually some way from the town centre. I understand that the centre's quite oldie-worldy and quite attractive so you'll probably find somewhere to stay.

Barry

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The town centre is but a short walk through the shopping centre from the museum, and from what I saw, quite photogenic.

Leon said:

Barry - that's one of my favourite places - I've often spent the night at Waylands Smithy - would like to see how your pics turned out - I've never really got any successful pics of the area - I think it's all too "big" to capture on film.

I'm off to the exhibition this weekend - any tips for where to stay overnight? Is Banbury a nice place?

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I don't know it well enough to be able to recommend a hotel, but if it helps the tourist information centre is by the museum and I've alway found them good for sorting out accommodation.

Just got back from Banbury. I'm so glad I managed to make it to the exhibition. I found it very inspiring. Like others I was surprised at how small the images were. Very delicate, truly exquisite photos. His toning technique worked perfectly. I learnt a lot.

Mike

I went too - and was pretty much blown away- they were every bit as good as I hoped they might be. And, I bumped into mikeg (see above). I was hoping to have a bit more of a chat with him after I'd finished looking through the exhibition, but after looking through the books, I looked up and he'd gone. Maybe next time Mike

Leon said:

And, I bumped into mikeg (see above). I was hoping to have a bit more of a chat with him after I'd finished looking through the exhibition, but after looking through the books, I looked up and he'd gone. Maybe next time Mike

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Sorry about that -- I was on a tight schedule and had to get back home to take the kids out. I'll probably come down to Ross-on-Wye for the day on the Saturday, so maybe see you there?

Cheers

Mike

A cracking exhibition, made better by meeting Carl Radford and his better half Liz.

J

Was excellent; glad I made it before it finished.