The Photographic Haikus Of Michael Kenna

Some photographers circulate their work via magazines and newspapers (although more and more those entities exist solely online, as websites and social media channels). Others, who have chosen the world of commercial photography, distribute their images as ads, in marketing or branding campaigns, which range from traditional print to many diverse forms in digital platforms.

But for the master landscape photographer Michael Kenna, who was born in Lancashire, England, but now is based in Seattle where he produces ethereal photographs that often portray hints of humanity in timeless natural landscapes, the path is a bit different. Instead, Kenna shares his lyrical work through fine-art exhibitions and more than 20 books, including his latest, Beyond Architecture (Prestel Publishing), Oiseaux (Editions Xavier Baral) and Rafu (Nazraeli Press).

Digital Photo Pro: How did your passion for the art and craft of photography develop?

Michael Kenna: I don’t think there was ever a decisive moment when passion and enlightenment about photography suddenly enveloped me. Rather, many factors, experiences and decisions, great and small, brought me to the life path I have been on for the past 45 years.

I was born and brought up in what might be described as a poor, working-class family in Widnes, an industrial town near Liverpool. Childhood experiences obviously have a great influence on one’s life, and as a boy, even though I had five siblings, I was quite solitary, content for the most part with making up my own adventures and acting them out in the local parks and streets.

I liked to wander to the