ORANGE COAST MAGAZINE article on Mark Kirchner, Extraordianary photographer and book binder

ORANGE COAST MAGAZINE
June 3




By Anastacia Grenda


‘Reverend Koen Mishima Shinto Purification Ritual With Kyudo (Japanese Archery)’


Artist
Mark Kirchner, Newport Beach

BACKGROUND
Kirchner, who studied with photographer Ansel Adams and teaches at Soka University of America, explores societal issues through “visual anthropology”: in this case, the World War II internment of 10,000 Japanese-Americans at Manzanar in the Owens Valley. He’s also a professional bookbinder.

CREATION
Kirchner uses vintage 35mm Leica M3 range-finders and black-and-white film to capture the annual pilgrimage to the national historic site.
(He works with large-format cameras for landscapes.) Because he prints his photos in a darkroom, this image was a challenge due to the harsh light at Manzanar and the Rev. Mishima’s bold black-and-white garments.

INSPIRATION
This photo, of a ritual rooted in Shintoism, is one in a sequence of five. Kirchner hopes his photos will bring more visibility to Manzanar and the pilgrimage: “At the heart of the project is an inquiry into cultural processes.”

Front and Center
A Heavenly CD
The Norbertine monks of St. Michael’s Abbey just wanted an archive of chants that the nearly 70 clergymen perform daily, so the recording session was a low-tech affair. A CD burner and microphones were brought into the church. The roar of passing motorcycles ruined many takes, says the Rev. Jerome Molokie, but a record label liked the finished product.

The recently released “Anthology: Chants and Polyphony From St. Michael’s Abbey” now is a fundraising tool for the clerics, who must relocate the abbey to a more geologically stable area.

As for the music, Molokie says, its peaceful quality can be calming: “It’s such a perfect melding of text and melody.”
The monks will perform chants from the CD on May 31, at the abbey. They also sing at daily Masses.

19292 El Toro Road, Silverado, 949-858-0222, www.stmichaelsabbey.com.

Tidbit
The Bowers Museum
The museum’s permanent collection contains more than 130,000 items, almost 30,000 of them related to Orange County history