Michael Kenna’s choice to always interpret his subject rather than document it has led him to test the limits of photography by attempting to capture what he calls ‘the invisible’. In his work, this elusive material ranges from emotion (aroused by the interaction between two elements) to pure form (isolated by a compression of space). Halfway between figuration and abstraction, Michael Kenna also practises a form of photo-calligraphy in which the rhythm introduced by dark elements is magnified by the whiteness of the background. The porous boundaries between the visible and the invisible, between sign and meaning, have also been explored by East Asian artists. This research is evident in Japan, where cursive calligraphy dialogues with the landscape genre. It is also evident in Korea, where there is a taste for the poetry of detail in ink painting and for abstract form in the choice of scholar’s stones.

Poetic Conversations
Michael Kenna’s photographs have often been compared to visual haikus, based on a very short Japanese poetic form (seventeen syllables) that originated in the 17th century. Conciseness, balance, transcendence of the subject, acceptance of the viewer’s subjectivity, and an invitation to contemplation are all common characteristics. The connection is particularly noticeable in compositions that bring two unrelated elements into conversation and reveal a taste for detail shared with Korean ink painting.

Musée national des arts asiatiques
Commissariat de l’exposition
Edouard de Saint-Ours, Curator of photographic collections, Guimet Museum, Paris

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