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Asylum Lake, Kalamazoo, MI
Asylum Lake, Kalamazoo, MI
Asylum Lake, Kalamazoo, MI
Photograph and Ditital Image © Kalamazoo Institute of Arts. Not for reproduction or publication.
On View
Not on view
Object number1992/3.5

Asylum Lake, Kalamazoo, MI

Artist (British, 1953-)
Date1992
Mediumgelatin silver print
Dimensionsimage (flush): 7 1/2 × 7 1/2 in. (19.1 × 19.1 cm)
mount (mat): 20 × 16 in. (50.8 × 40.6 cm)
Credit LineGift of the artist
Exhibition History"Master Photographs from the Permanent Collection," KIA (Sept. 7 - Oct. 24, 1993). "Photographs from the Permanent Collection," KIA (Sept. 2003 - Mar. 2004). "Perspectives on Place: Artists’ Visions of Michigan's Land and Lakes," KIA Nay Gallery (June 6 - Sept. 7, 2008). Label TextWith the sensibility of a poet, British artist Michael Kenna creates images that attempt to capture the spiritual atmosphere of a place. He describes his vision as "post-industrial romanticism" and achieves moody and mysterious effects by photographing a scene at dawn or dusk, in mist or fog. A diffuse twilight and meditative stillness permeate Kenna's experience of Kalamazoo's Asylum Lake. Being a photographer means that I go hunting for experiences. I feel them and photograph them. I act as a medium for others to see them. I touch them with my own subjective interpretations but I am really a guide. I get to point out aspects of the world that are wonderful, mysterious, inspirational, beautiful, at least in my mind and eyes. What greater pleasure could there be? Michael Kenna 2007 Kenna now lives in Seattle, but travels regularly to specific sites in Japan, China, Korea, and India. He views these places as old friends, which he revisits to experience in different light and seasons.