Big part of learning photography is looking at work from other photographers and allowing it to expand our perspectives and visual vocabularies. This is why I’ve decided to start a new weekly series simply called, This Week’s Photo (TWP).
In this series, I’ll be exploring images from other photographers and a brief discussion around that image. I hope to explore how each photographer used the visual language to make the impact with that particular image. I hope you’ll find this series useful – and if not useful – at least I hope you’ll have fun looking at curated images from amazing photographers.
This Week’s Photo – Michael Kenna: Tree Portrait – Study 1
The first photo that I have chosen for this series is a classic by Michael Kenna called Tree Portrait – Study 1 shot in Hokkaido, Japan in 2002. Aside from the incredible simplicity of the picture (like most of Michael Kenna’s work), there are many things that I love about it.
First and foremost is the lack of a horizon in the background. I think this gives the image a rather dreamy look. I also love the fact that the background has no real texture but that gradually changes as you approach the bottom of the picture and see the texture of the snow. I think it gives the image a dreamy-but-grounded (if there could be such a thing) feel.
The graduated dark section on top of the image adds contrast but also makes you question what time of the day the photo was taken. I suspect without the graduated dark section on the top, the image may have been too simple.
Now coming to the subject of the image, the tree itself. Fact that Kenna decided to place it dead centre of the image broke the most basic “rules” of composition. I love this. The symbolism of the lone tree surviving the harsh Hokkaido winter is simple yet beautiful. The withered branches of the tree only add to that narrative.
Finally, perhaps the most unusual bit about the image – the vertical beam of snow that seems to be grabbing onto the trunk of the tree from the bottom almost to the top. I haven’t been to Hokkaido but I suspect that snow generally doesn’t behave this way. It’s almost as if all of this was set up as a still life photograph by Kenna himself.
