Michael Kenna Quotes - Page 2

Quotes about:

• Parks and gardens are the quintessential intimate landscapes. People use them all the time, leaving their energy and memories behind. It's what's left behind that I like to photograph.

  Michael Kenna

  Photography, Memories, Garden

  22 Copy quote

• The first time, I usually skim off the outer layer and end up with photographs that are fairly obvious. The second time, I have to look a little deeper. The images get more interesting. The third time it is even more challenging and on each subsequent occasion, the images should get stronger, but it takes more effort to get them.

  Michael Kenna

  Photography, Interesting, Effort

  15 Copy quote

• I do have strong convictions and political opinions, but I don't think it's necessary to imbue my photographic work with them. I use photography as a vessel for visual material to flow through, to encourage conversation with the viewer. I try to present a catalyst and invite viewers to tell their own stories.

  Michael Kenna

  Photography, Strong, Thinking

  16 Copy quote

• Most of my work involves slowing down rather than speeding up. I prefer to look at prints than scans, and I prefer to look at original silver prints rather than digital prints. I prefer to look at fewer images, but spend time with those individual images.

  Michael Kenna

  Looks, Digital, Silver

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  13 Copy quote

• Easier is not necessarily better.

  Michael Kenna

  Easier

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  7 Copy quote

• There are many aspects about what and why we photograph: visual pleasure, personal empathy, intellectual stimulation, technical excellence, etc. Serious photographers and artists will try to create works that are original. Over a career period they may develop a singular identity in their images.

  Michael Kenna

  Artist, Careers, Empathy

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  10 Copy quote

• I believe that every photographer, every artist, should choose materials and equipment based on their own vision. I don't believe that non-digital is necessarily better than digital, or the reverse for that matter. They are just different, and it is my preference and choice to remain with the traditional silver process, at least for the time being.

  Michael Kenna

  Believe, Artist, Choices

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  8 Copy quote

• For me, this is one of the advantages of not using digital, I never know when I have a good photograph! I practice doubt as a way to push myself into alternative compositions by selective focus, different speeds of exposure, and unusual perspectives.

  Michael Kenna

  Practice, Perspective, Focus

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  8 Copy quote

• It's possible to think of photography as an act of editing, a matter of where you put your rectangle pull it out or take it away. Sometimes people ask me about films, cameras and development times in order to find out how to do landscape photography. The first thing I do in landscape photography is go out there and talk to the land - form a relationship, ask permission, it's not about going out there like some paparazzi with a Leica and snapping a few pictures, before running off to print them.

  Michael Kenna

  Running, Photography, Thinking

  Interview with Brooks Jensen, www.michaelkenna.net. October 2003.

  13 Copy quote

• I find that when one has worked long enough, technical know-how becomes almost irrelevant. In photography, it's not difficult to reach a technical level where you don't need to think about the technique any more. I think there is far too much literature and far too much emphasis upon the techniques of photography. The make of camera and type of film we happen to use has little bearing on the results.

  Michael Kenna

  Photography, Thinking, Long

  Interview with Brooks Jensen, www.michaelkenna.net. October 2003.

  11 Copy quote

• The photographer Ruth Bernhard used to tell me that this is like asking somebody how they evolved their signature. It is not something I've ever worked on consciously. I think style is just the end result of personal experience. It would be problematic for me to photograph in another style. I'm drawn to places and subject matter that have personal connections for me and I photograph in a way that seems right. Where does it all come from, who knows?

  Michael Kenna

  Thinking, Style, Signatures

  10 Copy quote

• Instant gratification in photography is not something that I need or desire. I find that the long, slow journey to the final print captivates me far more.

  Michael Kenna

  Photography, Journey, Long

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  4 Copy quote

• Everybody now has a camera, whether it is a professional instrument or just part of a phone. Landscape photography is a pastime enjoyed by more and more. Getting it right is not an issue. It is difficult to make a mistake with the sophisticated technology we now have. Making a personal and creative image is a far greater challenge.

  Michael Kenna

  Photography, Mistake, Technology

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  7 Copy quote

• One needs to fully accept that surprises sometimes happen and complete control over outcome is not necessary or even desirable.

  Michael Kenna

  Needs, Outcomes, Surprise

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  7 Copy quote

• Craft is important, but cameras for their own sake are not. A sense of aesthetics, a connection with the subject matter, an enquiring and an inquisitive mind, these factors outweigh whatever equipment we use.

  Michael Kenna

  Mind, Important, Cameras

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  5 Copy quote

• Of course, the whole photographic process has been made much faster, cleaner and far more accessible to people by digital innovations, which is really great. Everybody now has a camera, often as part of our phone, and most of these cameras require little to no technical training. An enormous variety of apps also enable us to take short cuts to finished images. We hardly need to even think anymore.

  Michael Kenna

  Cutting, Thinking, Phones

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  4 Copy quote

• Approaching subject matter to photograph is like meeting a person and beginning a conversation. How does one know ahead of time where that will lead, what the subject matter will be, how intimate it will become, how long the potential relationship will last? Certainly, a sense of curiosity and a willingness to be patient to allow the subject matter to reveal itself are important elements in this process.

  Michael Kenna

  Long, Curiosity, Important

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  4 Copy quote

• Different assignments, different places, require different approaches. Sometimes I take minutes in a location, at other times days. There are many places that I have returned to over several years. When I photograph, I look for some sort of resonance, connection, spark of recognition.

  Michael Kenna

  Years, Connections, Different

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  4 Copy quote

• Time is of the essence, particularly if we're sending images out on social media. The reality is that the majority of images are only viewed for a few seconds, often on a phone or computer. There are so many images freely available that it takes a lot of will power to concentrate and prolong the gaze on one picture at the expense of the thousands of others waiting to be viewed!

  Michael Kenna

  Reality, Media, Essence

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  4 Copy quote

• If the quality of professional materials continues to erode or even dries up, then many of us silver photographers would have to follow the digital tidal wave. It certainly wouldn't be the end of the world, but in my opinion, having no silver material available would be a huge loss to photography.

  Michael Kenna

  Photography, Loss, Quality

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  4 Copy quote

• Essentially, I look for what is interesting to me, out there in the three-dimensional world, and translate or interpret so that it becomes visually pleasing in a two-dimensional photographic print. I search for subject matter with visual patterns, interesting abstractions and graphic compositions.

  Michael Kenna

  Two, Interesting, Looks

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  4 Copy quote

• I encourage playfulness and experimentation with both the camera and subject matter. Sometimes there is an obvious perspective, but it is important never to be satisfied with that.

  Michael Kenna

  Perspective, Important, Matter

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  4 Copy quote

• There is no one way of photographing anything. I don't believe there is even one best way of photographing any given subject.

  Michael Kenna

  Believe, Way, Given

  Source: www.smh.com.au

  4 Copy quote

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