Michael Kenna print quality

miha · Jul 22, 2013

I thought he prints on RC pearl paper. I don't know where I got this.

brian steinberger · Jul 22, 2013

I thought he printed on MGIV and very light sepia tone.

Toffle · Jul 22, 2013

brian steinberger said:
I thought he printed on MGIV and very light sepia tone.

Hey... that's what I do. Hot diggety! I'm on my way!

Joking aside, it is good to see this old thread come back to the daily feed. The lesson I took from this thread when it first began, (besides the fact that it is neither the technique nor materials which makes the artist) is that you can be inspired and influenced by another artist without copying, channeling or expressing them in your own work. My own greatest photographic influence is late French photographer, Willy Ronis. I am the first to note that my prints are nothing at all like his wonderful lifetime of work. I am inspired instead by the (long) life he lived and expressed through his work, and by the absolute affection he had for his subject matter. I am inspired by Michael Kenna's vision and passion for his work and I am emboldened by the fact that I can feel that inspiration in my work without any need for my prints to look like his work. Interesting, (I hope) is the fact that photographically I am equally influenced by my favourite composer, Ralph Vaughan Williams. But where that thought leads, I do not have words to say.

Cheers,
Tom

Gerald C Koch · Jul 22, 2013

The best way to improve your printing is to thoroughly read a good book on printing. More than one would be even better. Then put what you learn into practice. The problem with online sites is that they are usually not intended to convey an extensive knowledge on a particular subject. Here books still have the advantage.

Peter Schrager · Jul 23, 2013

You could print on toilet paper ...it is the VISION that matters...in 100 years no one is going to see a print of yours and say...oh gosh that must be polymax!

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Thomas Bertilsson · Jul 23, 2013

Peter Schrager said:
You could print on toilet paper ...it is the VISION that matters...in 100 years no one is going to see a print of yours and say...oh gosh that must be polymax!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2

How true.

MattKing · Jul 23, 2013

Peter Schrager said:
You could print on toilet paper ...it is the VISION that matters...in 100 years no one is going to see a print of yours and say...oh gosh that must be polymax!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2

With all due respect Peter, if you print on toilet paper, it is equally true that in 100 years no one is going to see a print of yours and say...oh gosh that must be toilet paper!

DREW WILEY · Jul 25, 2013

To me, Kenna's niche is trying to create semi-mythical little worlds like Hobbit shires or whatever; so in many cases, blacked out shadows and
conspicuous grain in relatively small prints taken with small cameras just makes a lot of sense. The images probably wouldn't look good at significant enlargement anyway. Some of the shots he's taken around here is a nice yardstick for evaluating his approach, at least contrasted to the way I would look at the same things toting a big 8x10 view camera with all its own kind of potential. I'm quite fond of his style, even
though I work in a very different manner personally.

Terry Breedlove · Dec 21, 2016

FYI Micheal Kenna now lives in Seattle, Wa and he has a showing of his work going on right now at the Gibson gallery until the 7th of January if anyone is interested.

Theo Sulphate · Dec 21, 2016

Terry Breedlove said:
FYI Micheal Kenna now lives in Seattle, Wa and he has a showing of his work going on right now at the Gibson gallery until the 7th of January if anyone is interested.

Thank you for that. What I admire about his work most of all is that I think he has a talent for composing images perfectly. I'm impressed.

faberryman · Dec 21, 2016

I recently saw a McKenna show in Chicago. I didn't recognize his name. I look at lots of images but rarely remember names. I didn't notice color in his prints. What I did notice was exquisite composition and simplicity. I also thought he used long exposures to achieve soft atmospherics and a feeling of serenity. But I could be wrong.

Gerald C Koch · Dec 25, 2016

Being able to see actual prints is far better than illustrations in books and gag representations on the internet. If there is a display of analog prints near you, no matter who the photographer is, go and see them. This is an important part of the learning process.

RalphLambrecht · Dec 26, 2016

Trevor Crone said:
I believe he favours light sepia toning followed by intensification with dilute selenium toner.

+1;It is my favorite method too with unfortunately less grand results. Same technique doesn't always lead to the same image quality.I must be missing his ferry dust (talent).

Peter Schrager · Dec 26, 2016

Bruce barnbaum...the art of black and white photography taught me more than any online forum...I really improved my printing after reading this book

Terry Breedlove · Jan 3, 2017

I am headed into Seattle Thursday and Kenna has some of his work hanging there for a couple more days. I am very interested in seeing his prints I want to see the size he prints because I hear he prints smaller and the quality. In the past I was extremely impressed with A Adams printing but not Edward Weston's so this will be fun to view the work of another photographer who I look up to so much.

Terry Breedlove · Jan 9, 2017

I went to the Gallery and I saw his prints. They were all about 8x8" in size and his printing was of the highest quality. I am also in contact with him via email and we are planning a meet up in March.

Michael Kenna print quality

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