Photographer Michael Kennaโ€™s long love affair with Japan on show in Hong Kong exhibition



When British-born photographer Michael Kenna first visited Japan in 1987, he instantly fell under its spell.

โ€œI was blown away by the aesthetics, the spiritual and religious aspects, the curiosity of the people and their friendliness,โ€ says Kenna via video call from the Japanese city of Kyoto.

โ€œIt was completely exotic, beautiful, strange, mysterious, delightful, engaging.โ€

He explored the length of the country, from Hokkaido in the north to Osaka in the south of Honshu island.

That is what I love about analogue photography โ€“ I never know what I have until months later when I have made the contact sheets

Along the way he visited Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, checked into riverside ryokan โ€“ traditional Japanese inns โ€“ and ate at convenience stores.

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