Point of View // Mikael Kennedy (NYC)

Where are you and what are you doing?

In Brooklyn, NY pretending that I don’t have to go to work in the morning. Unfortunately, I am only pretending.

How did you start taking photos?

I remember when I was really little I had one of those Kodak cameras that took the 110 film, I was probably 7 or 8 and I used to take a lot of pictures of horses. It’s weird I remember periods of photography by the camera I used at the time, as if that camera still somehow contains the memory of those images inside of it. Even after they have broken I put them on a shelf somewhere and when I look at them I think of pictures they took, they become an anchor to the thoughts I had at the time.

What is the most important aspect of (your) photography to you?

That it has a soul to it is the most important thing to me. I have been looking at a lot of Daido Mariyama’s photographs and I love seeing this mass of images, years after years of photos and I feel like I can see him in there, like I am looking at a series of puzzle pieces that form this man. Right now I feel like I know a lot of scientists, people who are technically proficient at photography but who lack a vision or have no interest in one. I guess that is fine, but I am looking for different things. This isn’t really even about photography to me – it is about story telling. I am sure that if I could tell it another way I would, but photography is what I have so it is what I use. But in that I want things that burn, that have a life to them. I want to look at something that makes me excited to be alive, so I try to create what I want to see and what I hope people become excited by.

Who is your favourite photographer?

Recently I have been really impressed with Alessandra Sanguinetti. The world that she documents/creates in her book ‘The Sixth Day’ is fantastic. Also Daido Mariyama and Wim Wenders. Probably one of the best photo shows I have seen recently was of Tracey Baran’s work.

Do you see photography as a part of a bigger creative urge/scene/force?

It’s more that I don’t see photography as separate from other things. I think of my entire life as an art project and photography is only a part of it. Like I said it is the part that I use to tell the story but other people tell stories in other ways.

What could you look at for the rest of your life?

Trees, I am completely fascinated with trees right now, following the branches, the lines through them, they are absolutely perfect.

Related Links //
www.mikaelkennedy.com
www.downorout.blogspot.com