In 2007, Michael Kenna visited the Chiesa di Santo Stefano in Reggio Emilia and began a series of photographs that initiated a focused, contemplative body of work on confessionals, fixed wooden booths inside a Catholic church, designed specifically for the sacrament of confession. In Italian churches, confessionals are often more decorative than in many other countries, reflecting local craftsmanship and the importance of visual beauty in church interiors.
Returning to Reggio Emilia in the years that followed, Kenna developed this series between 2007 and 2016. Produced exclusively within the region, the photographs share the varied architectural forms of confessionals, reflecting his engagement with these intimate and symbolic spaces. This series also addresses the tradition of typologies in photography by exploring subtle variations within a single subject.
“These confessional images symbolize what I keep looking for: the invisible through the visible, the intangible contained in the tangible, the illusion of reality. If words, thoughts, and emotions could be made visible, confessionals – these containers of memories – would reveal a multitude of hidden secrets…” -Michael Kenna
Michael Kenna is known for his mysterious photographs, often made at dawn or in the dark hours of night, and concentrates primarily on the interaction between the natural landscape and human-made structures. Kenna is both a diurnal and nocturnal photographer, fascinated by light when it is most pliant. With long exposures lasting from several minutes to many hours, his photographs often capture details the human eye cannot perceive. Kenna works in the traditional, non-digital, gelatin silver process.
During Kenna’s fifty-plus-year career, he has had an extensive international career; notable solo shows include presentations at the International Center for Photography in New York, the Musée Guimet in Paris, and the Kahitsukan Kyoto Museum of Contemporary Art in Japan, alongside major gallery exhibitions in cities such as Paris, Tokyo, Seoul, and Hong Kong. His group exhibitions have included international touring shows and institutional presentations across Europe, the United States, and Asia. Kenna’s most significant awards include being named Officer and earlier Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters (2022, 2000), the Higashikawa Special Photographer Award (2016), the Hae-sun Lee Photography Award (2013), and the Imogen Cunningham Award (1981). His photographs are held in major permanent collections, including the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the National Gallery of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, and numerous other leading museums and institutional collections worldwide.
Joseph Bellows Gallery
7661 Girard Avenue
La Jolla, CA 92037
Tel (858) 456-5620
josephbellows.com
Confessional, Study 32, Chiesa di Sant´Eulalia Vergine e Martire, Reggio, Emilia, Italy 2015 © Michael Kenna: Confessionali
Confessional, Study 18, Chiesa di Santi Pietro Apostolo e Prospero Vescovo, Reggio Emilia, Italy 2007 © Michael Kenna: Confessionali
Confessional, Study 26, Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta, Toano, Reggio Emilia, Italy 2008 © Michael Kenna: Confessionali
Confessional, Study 24, Chiesa di San Francesco d’Assisi Confessore, Ramisetto, Reggio Emilia, Italy 2010 © Michael Kenna: Confessionali
Confessional, Study 22, Chiesa di San Giovanni Evangelista in Santo Stefano Protomartire, Reggio Emilia, Italy © Michael Kenna: Confessionali
Confessional, Study 40, Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta Nella Cattedrale, Reggio Emilia, Italy 2015 © Michael Kenna: Confessionali
Confessional, Study 6, Chiesa di Sant’Andrea, Gualtieri, Reggio Emilia, Italy 2008 © Michael Kenna: Confessionali
Confessional, Study 72, Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta, Pontone, Carpineti, Reggio Emilia, Italy 2016 © Michael Kenna: Confessionali
Confessional, Study 27, Chiesa Dei Santi Giacomo e Filippo Apostoli, Reggio Emilia, Italy 2007 © Michael Kenna: Confessionali
Confessional, Study 45, Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta, Gobbo, Reggio Emilia, Italy 2015 © Michael Kenna: Confessionali
