Respect Authority

Black and white photography has a lot of practical applications — emo band album covers, MySpace profile self-portraits, and every amateur photographer’s portfolio ever. Its inherent artfulness has lead to a great overuse of the style, subsequently wounding its artfulness through the strangling choke of cliché. Nonetheless, English photographer Michael Kenna’s monochrome images of stark, sweeping landscapes remind the viewer of the potential beauty of black and white photography. His shots have all the mood your average emo kid could only dream of.

Kenna’s photos scream silence; the quiet stillness makes it feel as if every shot was captured in the wee hours of Christmas morning. The pictures are also an agoraphobic’s nightmare — the vast emptiness Kenna regularly captures, highlighted by strongly contrasted trees or fences dotting the surrounding abyss, would have Emily Dickensen lighting the oven with just one glimpse. But if you’re anything like me, you’d be too busy falling into the enveloping void to smell the burning hair. Read More ›