Pine Three Island, Korea
Pine Tree, Korea, 2010
Who is Michael Kenna?
Talk to anyone who has seen Michael Kenna work and you will get the same -
Minimalist, B/W, landscape fine art. His work carries an enormous feeling of Zen Buddhism.
Michael Kenna is the master of the NEGATIVE SPACE. His pictures are uber simplistic and yet genius in composition and emotion. Michael Kenna pushes the boundaries of long exposure photography (up to 12 hours).
Examples of Kenna’s work?
The “Pine Three” picture from Korea
While living in Korea, I joined a photography club in 2010.
On my first trip with my new friends, we traveled to Wolcheon city, on the East Sea. Before the journey, all I knew was we were going to photograph a pine tree island on the sea coast. Due to my limited Korean knowledge, I missed a remark. This trip will be an homage to Michael Kenna’s work. All participants should emulate his popular picture of “pine trees” in Korea.
Upon our arrival, we went to the beach. The idea was to get in the mood for the next day [pic location]. On the other hand, this wasn’t proper scouting because our pension was about 10km away from the “pine tree” location.
Peble beach, Korea
The next day morning, we woke up 2 hours before sunrise and instantly moved to the exact spot.
It turned out, that the space between the national road and the waterfront was too small. From that spot, I couldn’t fit the entire island in a single frame as Michael Kenna did. My photography gear was limiting what I could do (1.6x crop sensor, 70-200mm lens). I walked around, and couldn’t find a good vantage point. The sun was about the rise, and I was under pressure to set up my tripod.
Pine three island contact sheet, South Korea, 2009
Pine three island, South Korea, 2009
Among the "pine tree island" series, this is the best picture. Emulating Michal Kenna would require much more than that.
At some point, I managed to calm down.
“ If you cannot avoid it, enjoy it! ”
Instead of bitching about my inability to replicate Michael Kenna, I embraced the situation. Mentally, I was happy to be there. And right away I redirected my attention to my new friends. I began to photograph them, what they do, all the hurry, just the entire setup.
Pine three island mood contact sheet, South Korea, 2009
Pine three island mood, South Korea, 2009
It might not be the best silhouette picture. But that day marked the start of my journey in finding my voice in photography.
"candid, available light, full-frame"
What did I learn from this trip?
.keep it simple
.stay positive
.creativity thrives in limitation - if you don’t have the right equipment/weather/time, just remember to have fun, be open-minded
.be humble
.preparation
.never give-up
Conclusion
Tremendous respect to Michael Kenna for:
.the ability to commit to a long-term project
.his efforts to revisit site spots for a second or third take
.the patience to find the right moment - just like a Zen Buddhist
.the masterwork of keeping only the most quintessential, and knowing what to exclude from the frame
.developing a strong and unique voice