Michael Kenna Quotes

Quotes about:

• Nothing is ever the same twice because everything is always gone forever, and yet each moment has infinite photographic possibilities.

  Michael Kenna

  Photography, Forever, Gone

  121 Copy quote

• We see in colour all the time. Everything around us is in colour. Black and white is therefore immediately an interpretation of the world, rather than a copy.

  Michael Kenna

  Black And White, World, Interpretation

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  43 Copy quote

• The golden rule in the arts, as far as I am concerned, is that all rules are meant to be broken.

  Michael Kenna

  Art, Broken, Golden

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  38 Copy quote

• For me, the subtlety of black and white inspires the imagination of the individual viewer to complete the picture in the mind's eye. It doesn't attempt to compete with the outside world. I believe it is calmer and gentler than colour, and persists longer in our visual memory.

  Michael Kenna

  Memories, Believe, Eye

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  34 Copy quote

• I often think of my work as visual haiku. It is an attempt to evoke and suggest through as few elements as possible rather than to describe with tremendous detail.

  Michael Kenna

  Photography, Thinking, Details

  54 Copy quote

• I don't have anything against colour. It is just not my first preference. I have always found black and white photographs to be quieter and more mysterious than those made in colour.

  Michael Kenna

  Black And White, Firsts, Mysterious

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  21 Copy quote

• As a landscape photographer we should be open to possibilities, for one thing often leads to another.

  Michael Kenna

  Landscape, Photographer, Possibility

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  4 Copy quote

• I believe that photographers should be passionate, determined, disciplined and ready to seek out their own styles and identities.

  Michael Kenna

  Believe, Style, Identity

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  22 Copy quote

• Perhaps most intriguing of all is that it is possible to photograph what is impossible for the human eye to see - cumulative time.

  Michael Kenna

  Photography, Eye, Impossible

  40 Copy quote

• Beauty is very much in the mind of the beholder.

  Michael Kenna

  Mind, Beholder

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  11 Copy quote

• I gravitate towards places where humans have been and are no more, to the edge of man's influence, where the elements are taking over or covering man's traces.

  Michael Kenna

  Photography, Men, Covering

  47 Copy quote

• Getting photographs is not the most important thing. For me it's the act of photographing. It's enlightening, therapeutic and satisfying, because the very process forces me to connect with the world. When you make four-hour exposures in the middle of the night, you inevitably slow down and begin to observe and appreciate more what's going on around you. In our fast-paced, modern world, it's a luxury to be able to watch the stars move across the sky.

  Michael Kenna

  Photography, Stars, Moving

  46 Copy quote

• I prefer to think of photography as a never ending journey with infinite possibilities. I love to return to places to re photograph. Nothing is ever the same. The options are endless.

  Michael Kenna

  Photography, Journey, Thinking

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  19 Copy quote

• In my photographic work I'm generally attracted to places that contain memories, history, atmospheres and stories. I'm interested in the places where people have lived, worked and played. I look for traces of the past, visual fingerprints, evidence of activities - they fire my imagination and connect into my own personal experiences. Using the analogy of the theater, I would say that I like to photograph the empty stage, before or after the performance, even in between acts. I love the atmosphere of anticipation, the feeling in the air that events have happened, or will happen soon.

  Michael Kenna

  Memories, Past, Fire

  47 Copy quote

• I try not to make conscious decisions about what I am looking for. I don't make elaborate preparations before I go to a location. Essentially I walk, explore, discover and photograph.

  Michael Kenna

  Decision, Preparation, Trying

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  7 Copy quote

• I don't think it is even possible to define what a good photograph is, so it is difficult to instruct anybody how to make one. Beauty and aesthetics are subjective, and very much in the mind of the beholder.

  Michael Kenna

  Thinking, Mind, Photograph

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  20 Copy quote

• We all have choices and must make them for ourselves.

  Michael Kenna

  Choices

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  14 Copy quote

• My advice to any budding artist is never to be satisfied with imitating others. This is but a means to an end. A serious artist will work with intensity to discover themselves, their own personal vision. I believe this is a fundamental aspect of the creative path.

  Michael Kenna

  Believe, Mean, Artist

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  14 Copy quote

• One advances by standing on the shoulders of giants, but the ultimate goal is to find one's own vision.

  Michael Kenna

  Goal, Vision, Giants

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  9 Copy quote

• There can be no doubt that probability increases with practice. Fortune favours the brave, fortune favours the prepared mind, and fortune favours those who work the hardest.

  Michael Kenna

  Practice, Brave, Doubt

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  9 Copy quote

• Sometimes the most interesting visual phenomena occur when you least expect it. Other times, you think youre getting something amazing and the photographs turn out to be boring and predictable. So I think thats why, a long time ago, I consciously tried to let go of artists angst, and instead just hope for the best and enjoy it. I love the journey as much as the destination. If I wasnt a photographer, Id still be a traveler.

  Michael Kenna

  Letting Go, Artist, Journey

  24 Copy quote

• I enjoy places that have mystery and atmosphere, perhaps a patina of age, a suggestion rather than a description, a question or two. I look for memories, traces, evidence of the human interaction with the landscape. Sometimes I photograph pure nature, sometimes urban structures.

  Michael Kenna

  Memories, Two, Atmosphere

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  7 Copy quote

• If I had to give advice to other photographers, I would first suggest quickly getting over the camera equipment questions. In my humble opinion, the make and format of a camera is ultimately low on the priority scale when it comes to making pictures.

  Michael Kenna

  Humble, Giving, Advice

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  8 Copy quote

• I would strongly encourage anybody embarking on photography as a career to embrace and enjoy the whole process. Being a photographer can be a wonderful way to experience the world.

  Michael Kenna

  Photography, Careers, Way

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  12 Copy quote

• I believe that we photographers don't benefit very much with answers from other photographers. What is more beneficial is to ask questions of ourselves and see what thoughts float out from within.

  Michael Kenna

  Believe, Answers, Benefits

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  13 Copy quote

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