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175 Michael Kenna was born in 1953 in Lancashire, England, into an Irish Catholic family. From an early age Kenna aspired to be a priest and, aged eleven, began studying at a seminary school. However, art quickly became his strongest subject and at the age of 17 he enrolled at Banbury School of Art in Oxfordshire. He studied painting and then photography, before going on to pursue a degree in photography at the London College of Printing. Initially Kenna concentrated on commercial photography, however he soon turned to landscape after seeing the work of Bill Brandt, Josef Sudek, Eugène Atget and Alfred Steiglitz. In 1977 Kenna moved to San Francisco where a number of galleries started to exhibit his work. He quickly settled into life in California where he lived and worked as a photographer for over thirty years. Kenna looks for interesting compositions and arrangements within the natural landscape. He is drawn to certain times of day and night, preferring to photograph in the mist, rain and snow. Working solely in black and white, he has said: 'I prefer suggestion over description. The world is pretty chaotic, seemingly always speeding up and getting louder and more visually dense. I am interested in finding and/or creating calm shelters from the storm, places where quiet and solitude is encouraged and inner contemplation possible. I think we could all use a break from time to time...' His photographs are held in permanent collections at the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Kenna currently lives in Seattle, with his wife and children. Michael Kenna Born 1953 110 Michael Kenna, Afternoon Light, Shibeca, Hokkaido, Japan, 2004 Signed, dated and numbered on mount Signed, dated, inscribed with title and stamped with photographer's copyright ink stamp on reverse Sepia toned silver gelatin print, 8 x 7 3/4 inches From an edition of forty five