Night Work [Illustriert] [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

Summary: Night Work is filled with haunting scenes of "evocative and mysterious places" that will fill your dreams. Michael Kenna uses the varying degrees of normally occurring darkness, light and contrast that night brings to create shifting moods of abstract beauty. Anyone who has been out walking alone at 3 a.m. will immediately recognize the inherent stillness and loneliness of these moments. Stop and take a deep breath, and the same moment turns into ethereal beauty . . . as these images testify.

Review: Ghostly illusions are the essence of Mr. Kenna's work. Our reactions to abstract shapes and normal objects shift as the shadows lengthen, and greyness pervades the scene. In the absence of people, these scenes also evoke the loneliness and alienation of modern life. Mr. Kenna has a way of showing juxtapositions of nature and man-made objects in a way that puts mere humans in their place, temporarily above ground before the mortal coil is shed.

The best of this work is truly stunning, and there are many superb images here. But the majority of the work just missed for me. Either the degree of fuzziness of the objects was too great, or the images were too faint, or the light source overpowered the scene, or the composition needed cropping. It's too bad because the concept of this work is very strong, and the results are almost right in virtually all cases.

Bill Brandt is the strongest influence on this body of photography, which Mr. Kenna describes as an invitation to "slow down" and to experience like "haiku poetry." I thought that both references were apt.

My favorite works in the book included:

This Tree, Cracow, Poland, 1989;

Above the Abreuvoir, Marly, France, 1992;

Abre Agite, Mont Gros, Nice, France, 1997;

Swings, Catskill Mountains, New York, 1977;

Pont Neuf (merci Brassai), Paris, France, 1992;

Bill Brandt's Snicket, Halifax, Yorkshire, England, 1986;

Beach Path, Hastings, Sussex, England, 1984;

Wind-Swept Beach, Calais, France, 1989;

Docking Poles, Venice, Italy, 1980;

Draped Boats, Whitby, Yorkshire, England, 1986;

The Rouge, Study 95, Dearborn, Michigan, 1995;

Chapel Cross Power Station, Study 2, Dumfries, Scotland, 1985;

Lagoon, Study 1, Blackpool, Lancashire, England, 1992

Sea Stones, Monterrey, California, 1992;

Nocturne, St. Malo, Brittany, France, 1993; and

Log and Plane, Boca Raton, Florida, 1992.

As you can see from these examples, his geographical and subject tastes are broad and varied. His work with power supplies is unusually poetic, making the tall cooling towers look almost like Monet's grain stacks in some ghostly images.

After you examine these long-exposed images, I suggest that you think about which aspects of night are most moving for you. What emotions do you like to have evoked by night? Why? What locales work best for creating those feelings? How can you use night to inspire and inflame your creativity instead, as Mr. Kenna has done?

Sway to the heavenly music of the night!