Michael Kenna: Ratcliffe Power Station

Michael Kenna first began photographing the Ratcliffe power station in the early 1980s, and over the past several years he has visited the site many times, producing a body of work as ominous as it is beautiful. The Ratcliffe photographs take on the tonal quality of a partially lit ecosphere unique to the photographer and his subject. A brilliant manipulator of half-light, Kenna’s grainy, spatial topography epitomizes the gray skies of Northern England that were the ubiquitous backdrop to his childhood. Kenna’s Ratcliffe photographs create the impression of an atmospherically foggy day, registering the homeostasis of a mood that is a dominant characteristic of his work. Beautifully printed in duotone on matte art paper, Ratcliffe Power Station is published in a first edition of 3,000 copies. Introduction by Jeremy Reed.