Hokkaido. Photographs by Michael Kenna. Nazraeli Press, Tucson, 2006. 104 pp., 84 duotone plates on uncoated paper., 12x13". Available in a print run of 250 copies, the limited edition of Hokkaido - each copy signed and numbered by the artist - will be housed in a specially made slip case, itself covered in delicate Japanese paper. "The Northern Japanese island of Hokkaido has abundant natural forests, clear lakes, and magnificent mountains. It is perhaps best known for its intense and brutal winters. Snow and ice make many parts of the island inaccessible and the local Sea of Okhotsk routinely freezes over. Kenna has been photographing throughout Hokkaido, in these extreme conditions, for the past several years.
The 84 photographs in this book are the result of his explorations. Beautifully printed on heavy, uncoated Japanese paper using special black inks, Hokkaido is bound in thin maple wooden boards and housed in a special slipcase. The book is designed by renowned Japanese designer Hideyuki Taguchi, and opens with an introduction by Daido Moriyama. Published to coincide with a major exhibition of Kenna’s work opening in Spring 2006 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography."
With Spring, with its' light and warmth, refusing to leave us here in Stockholm I can now step away from the oppressing feeling of our winters and see the beauty of extreme weather conditions - at least in imagery. Beautiful and calming!
