INGVAR KENNE

← BACK

CITIZEN 1997–2012

Peter Thomason, Reverend, Melbourne, Australia, 1997

Anonymous, Diver, Port Augusta, Australia, 2004

Miss Wong, Prostitute, Simao, China, 2003

Anni Finsterer, Actor & My Wife, Erowal Bay, Australia, 2007

Cormac and Callum Kenne, My Kids, Sydney, Australia, 2004

Anneliese Seubert, Model, Sydney, Australia, 1997

Ron Jeremy, Porn Star, Sydney, Australia, 2012

Akira Isagawa, Fashion Designer, Sydney, Australia, 2003

Joel Edgerton, Actor, Sydney, Australia, 2007

Ben Mendelsohn, Actor, Sydney, Australia, 2001

Mrs Zhuo and Mrs Wong, Patient and Doctor, Simao, China, 2003

Do An Voi, Prostitute, Muang Khua, Laos, 2002

Angus Young, Musician, Sydney, Australia, 2003

Ron Maitland, Homeless, Sydney, Australia, 2000

Sean, Homeless, Sydney, Australia, 2000

Ettikai Reuben, Dancer, Sydney, Australia, 2005

Ralph Winmar, Traveler, Sydney, Australia, 2003

Anonymus, Huli Tribe, Tari, Papua New Guinea, 1998

Anonymous, Yangbaiying, Tibet, China, 2006

Anonymous, Muang Khua, Laos, 2002

Ll Yan and Ma Ruyin, Truck Owners, Muang Khua, Laos, 2002

Wang Chunhua, Truck Owner, Muang Khua, Laos, 2002

Alfred Vincent, Child Sex Offender, Christchurch, NZ, 2002

Camilla, Artist, Bowral, Australia, 2008

Nik Robinson, Art Director, Pickle Bottle Creek, Australia, 2009

Rick Fletcher, Prisoner, Christchurch, New Zealand, 2002

Yang Yi La Mo, Property Manager, Beijing, China, 2006

Wei Ping, Volunteer HIV Clinic, Kunming, China, 2003

Chris, Factory Worker, Nhill, Australia, 2001

Tracey Emin, Artist, Sydney, Australia, 2003

Baz Luhrmann, Film Director, Sydney, Australia, 2000

Martin Mischkulnig, Photographer, Sydney, Australia, 2006

Peter Ferris, Order Of Malta, Sydney, Australia, 2005

Malcolm Fraser, Former Prime Minister, Melbourne, Australia, 1998

David Wenham, Actor, Portsea, Australia, 1998

Mrs Noa, Manager, Menlian, China, 1998

Etueni Nasau, Survivor At Sea, Apia, Samoa, 2011

Johnno Mulock, Actor, Sydney, Australia, 1998

Sister Kate McPhee, Nun, Parramatta, Australia, 2006

Ross Turnbull, Homeless, Sydney, Australia, 2006

Meryl Tankard, Choreographer, Sydney, Australia, 2003

Margaret Tuckson, Artist, Sydney, Australia, 2006

Nick Cave, Musician, Melbourne, Australia, 2001

Mark Mordue, Writer, Sydney, Australia, 2007

Ian Abdullah, Artist, Glossop, Australia, 2000

Gilbert Kennedy, 7th Dan Karate Champ, New York, USA, 2010

Anonymous, Wamara Tribe, Mt Hagen, Papua New Guinea, 1998

Anonymous, Mudmen Tribe, Mt Hagen, Papua New Guinea, 1998

Cressida Campbell, Artist, Sydney, Australia, 2003

Rosemary Laing, Artist, Sydney, Australia, 2005

Pauline McLeod, Writer, Sydney, Australia, 2000

Stefan Sagmeister, Graphic Designer, New York, USA, 2008

Brian J Hooper, Child Sex Offender, Christchurch, NZ, 2002

Anonymous, Security Guard, Mt Hagen Papua New Guinea, 1998

Jeffrey Smart, Artist, Sydney, Australia, 2003

Marzell Cole, Concierge, Los Angeles, USA, 2010

Ai Weiwei, Artist, Sydney, Australia, 2008

Erica Stenberg, Traveler, Los Angeles, USA, 2010

Yvonne Margula, Mirarr Elder, Kakadu NP, Australia, 1998

George Miller, Director, Sydney, Australia, 2006

Mick Molloy, Comedian, Melbourne, Australia, 1999

Anonymous, Restaurant Proprietor, Muang Khua, Laos, 2002

Wayne Blair, Actor & Director, Sydney, Australia, 2009

Mona Chuguna, Author, Broome, Australia, 2009

Monica Finsterer, My Mother In Law, Sydney, Australia, 2008

Denzell with Magic, Drifter By Choice, Los Angeles, USA, 2010

Hanna and Reda Hijazi, Teacher, Picton, Australia, 2010

Tony Strickland, Prisoner, Christchurch, New Zealand, 2002

Portraits 1997-2012

These portraits have over time become deeply connected by process alone.

They work alongside the notion of uncertainty and the surrender-to-serendipity. It hooks each person to the next, allowing an examination of an accidental population, gathered across twenty 8 odd years and over sixty countries.

What is this thing that fuses two humans together. The photographer and the photographed. Why turn the camera to this particular shepherd, pornstar, diver, cleaner, tribal dancer or indeed my own family? A manual in my head that is impossible to ignore. The purpose is in the obsessive doing, in the making of the pictures, in the visual exploration of that moment, the act of recording humans in the particular place we both converge at.

Perhaps this documentation of encounters, once collected, illuminates the power of direct contact.

“Non-travelers often warn the traveler of dangers, and the traveler dismisses such

fears; but the presumption of hospitality is just as odd as the presumption of danger.

You have to find out for yourself. Take the leap - go as far as you can. Try staying out of touch. Become a stranger in a strange land. Acquire humility. Learn the language. Listen to what people are saying. Look at what they do.”

[Paul Theroux, from the foreword of my book Chasing Summer, 2004]

“When Kenne sets off in his further travels, he leaves behind smiling people, no one shakes fists at him, no one chases him to destroy his film or to take away the camera.

This collection is a story of a journey in which mood and aura of the players, are of importance, not adventures and incidents. It holds none of the sensational elements, but photographs and portraits of people who usually fill our private quarters. They remain close to our hearts, collections and volumes similar to those we would want to have in our library, on a shelf, close to us.

These portraits of the people met and this graphic score of the road make up for a unique whole – a picture of a world full of beauty, dignity and optimism, which we all create and in which we want to live.”

[Ryszard Kapuscinski, excerpt of writings about my work, 1999]

The taxonomy of this population was never the purpose, yet it is its inevitable outcome.

An attempt to minimise an acquired and inevitable awareness of self, instead you are now part of a collective. The sum now a democratic equalizer.

No borders, no sides, no issue.

So.

It could be this.

Of seeing eye to eye.

Of being a citizen in the world, awake and curious about the other, the stranger.

To me, ultimately, I have experienced love.

CITIZEN – the book and the show launched at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra 2012. It later toured 5 capital cities around Australia.

CITIZEN -The Limited book – containing 4 Type C original prints and boxed in a linen clam shell, is still available to purchase.

The regular edition of CITIZEN is available.

View here Purchase book

Purchase book