Michael Kenna

"Michael Kenna has been photographing on film and making silver gelatin prints in his own darkroom for over 50 years. In the first of a series of five chapters sharing extracts from Kenna's Darkroom Diaries, we are reminded why prints made in the traditional analogue process, printed from original film negatives by hand in the darkroom, are so special.  Michael will discuss his process of photographing on film and will explain the patient and painstaking work of making prints by hand in his darkroom which has allowed him to produce the distinct images that are celebrated for their rich blacks, luminous highlights and a grainy aesthetic that compliments the ethereal lighting his work is best known for."  Luke Whitaker

To celebrate 50 years of darkroom printing, Luke Whitaker at Bosham Gallery is publishing a series of 5 chapters from Michael Kenna's Darkroom Diaries, in partnership with Black & White Photography Magazine, to accompany an online exhibition of Kenna's Artist Proofs. The online exhibition runs from 17 July - 17 December 2025.

Michael Kenna discusses his love of Japan, and the stories behind three of his most celebrated works made between 2002 and 2004...

In the third of a series of four articles tracing the career of Michael Kenna, Michael discusses the work of French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004), one of the most original, accomplished, influential and beloved figures in the history of photography.

In the fourth and final article in a series tracing the career of Michael Kenna, Michael discusses the influence of Czech photographer Josef Sudek, dubbed the ‘Poet of Prague’, who was best known for his lyrical and poetic black-and-white images of Prague, and intimate still life’s taken in and around his studio.

In the second of four articles tracing the career of Michael Kenna, Michael discusses the influence of the Hungarian-French photographer Gyula Halász (1899-1984) or Brassaï  (the pseudonym by which he has become much better known)

In the first of four articles tracing the career of Michael Kenna we hear Michael reflect on the work of Italian photographer Mario Giacomelli (1925-2000), whose work is widely regarded as some of the most original photography of the twentieth century.

There can be doubt that Florence is one of the most beautiful and romantic cities on the face of the earth. I have had the good fortune to have made sporadic visits there since the seventies.

A collection of favourite portraits of photographer Michael Kenna...

World-renowned photographer Michael Kenna, one of the most collected artists of his generation, has been given a top arts award by the French Government and has donated his lifetime’s work to France.

Before an artist makes an edition of prints, they must first make an Artist Proof. Artist Proofs are typically printed before the numbered edition and are used as a way for the artist to make final adjustments to the photograph or to experiment with different combinations of tone or colour. A simple way of understanding an Artist Proof is to think of it as a finalised print that the photographer approves to sign off the production of the Limited Edition.

Projects sometimes develop without prior research or specific intentions. Curiosity can lead to a keen interest, which may in turn transform into an avid infatuation. Such was the case with a series of photographs I made in England between 1983 and 1986, of which Deckchairs, Bournemouth, Dorset 1983 is included.

Michael Kenna’s prints have a distinguished provenance. Since the start of his career in the 1970s Michael Kenna has worked solely with film, and he makes every silver gelatin print himself personally, in his darkroom at his home studio in Seattle, USA.

Michael Kenna has travelled the world to create his distinct black and white images of unpopulated landscapes. It was in the mid-1980s that Kenna first began to visit Japan and became influenced by an Asian sense of aesthetics.