Description
The land of Hokkaido as Michael responds to it, with a perspective foreign to us Japanese, appears entirely new. The landscapers he has captured suggest the vistas that the aboriginal Ainu people might have seen around them when Hokkaido was their heaven and earth, in the distant past before mainland Japanese settled there to colonize the island. The photographs seem to fix nature itself, pure, an unsullied world. Through Michael Kenna, a single photographer from another country, Hokkaido has acquired a completely new complement of natural features.
Daido Moriyama
Practically, Hokkaido is not the easiest place to explore or photograph. I have clear memories of skidding 360 degrees, out of control, while driving around Kussharo Lake one freezing early morning. On another occasion, I had to have my car rescued by a friendly truck driver after I inadvertently plowed into a snow drift outside of Teshikaga. Occasionally, while on foot, I have sunk so deep into snow that I have literally had to crawl my way out, or be pulled out. There have been countless times when my cameras have been frozen and/or waterlogged. I really don’t think there is another place on earth where I have been so cold!
Michael Kenna
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