"The great and, for me, highly influential photographer, Bill Brandt (1904-1983), photographed the North of England in the 1930s. In the early '80s, I researched and went to some of the locations he had photographed in an attempt to see through his eyes. I photographed his famous Halifax snicket both during the day and also at night. However, in retrospect, I think this Tow Path image is the most Brandt like, even though, to the best of my knowledge, he did not photograph in this location. Brandt would often under-expose and over-develop his films in order to lose details in the shadows and accentuate the highlights. His images made at night had similar qualities. I used this technique while wandering along the Leeds and Liverpool canal in Blackburn. The result was a series of abstract lines and planes of differing tonalities. In this case, I believe that less is more, the stark lines lead the eyes into and around the the planes of the image. Luckily for me, the white fence, bridge and canal edge were recently painted. One down side is that the painters were not very careful and white paint marks were left everywhere on the ground, and therefore in my photograph. I have to painstakingly spend a few hours on each print retouching out these spots with my inks and brushes. I think the finished result is well worth the effort."  Michael Kenna