From one of the most acclaimed photographers working today comes his most personal work to
date-an intimate portrait of the seminary boarding school he attended for seven years and which
deeply informed his artistic practice.At age eleven Michael Kenna developed his first roll of
black and white film in a makeshift darkroom at St. Joseph's College Upholland the seminary
he attended with the idea of becoming a Catholic priest. Kenna abandoned his religious calling
after leaving the seminary but his experiences there have continued to inform his work for
decades. These gorgeous meditative photographs were taken when Kenna returned to visit the
now-shuttered school in the early 2000s. All of the qualities that make Kenna's work so
appealing and evocative are here-richly nuanced tones studies in contrast his ability to
transform the ordinary into something extraordinary. But Kenna is also revisiting a way of life
that may be disappearing-not only the at times ruthless discipline of the British boarding
school but also the somber beauty of religious practice. In page after page of richly toned
images Kenna's camera captures the architecture of the school's built environment as well as
its spiritual architecture. Kenna's richly detailed biographical essay about his experiences
and observations at St. Joseph's reveal much about the way Kenna thinks and works. A critical
essay by Vincent J. Miles focuses on the 110-year history of the college contextualizing
Kenna's time there. At once captivating and haunting this series is truly one of the
photographer's most personal and powerful projects to date.
