Aprì!
Kennedy inspires with Pulitzer Prize winning photography;
emphasizes importance of opportunities offered at West Linn
C hristopher E rbin
Staff Reporter
David Hume Kennedy,
Class of 1965, has been
photographing history for
?
four decades, beginning
as Photo Editor for the
Amplifier. As a contributing
Editor for Newsweek,
Kennerly has traveled the
globe to produce insightful
images of important
historic events. He has been
named to Time Magazine's
Top 100 Most Influential
Photographers, and his
inspiration derived from
R oseburg, O re. —a city most
people in Oregon probably
could not pick out on the
state map.
"My interest in
photography predated high
school. I wanted to be a
shooter from the first time
I picked up a camera when
I was a little kid," Kennerly
said. "It was always on my
mind. By the time I got to
high school I was well on
my way to a professional
career, and, in fact, was
shooting photos for the
Lake Oswego Review and
the Oregon City Enterprise
Courier while a senior."
Kennerly grew up in
Roseburg, Ore., before
transferring to WLHS his
junior year.
"My best memory of West
Linn High was how readily
my contemporaries accepted
me when I transferred there
from Roseburg during
my junior year in 1964,"
Kennerly said, "Showing up
at a new school so late in the
game can be a nightmare,
but WLHS was filled with
great kids who took me in
and made me feel right at
home."
Kennerly was an active
student who participated
in the "Sirs" boys clubs, ran
two years on the Varsity
Track Team and competed
on the Debate Team. He was
also involved in theatre,
starring in multiple school
plays including his personal
favorite "Comrades" during
his senior year, as well as
working on the newspaper.
"The Amplifier provided
some of my best and worst
memories," Kennerly said.
"One of the worst had to
do with putting a Gahan
Wilson cartoon from Playboy
Magazine in the December
issue of The Amplifier which
showed two workmen
and an old lady standing
in front of the fireplace.
Laying in the fireplace was
the skeleton of Santa Claus,
still in his red and white
outfit. The caption read, 'I
think we found what's been
clogging your chimney since
last Christmas, Mrs. Smith.'
I almost got kicked out of
school for that one!"
Kennerly said West
Linn was the launching
pad for his career choice in
photography, and wishes
he could spend more time
giving back to the school he
loves and admires to this
day.
'Tve been back to the
me. That job really launched
me into the big time,"
Kennerly said.
Kennerly won the
Pulitzer Prize for Feature
Photography in 1972 for his
remarkable photographs of
the Vietnam War. After the
war, Kennerly returned to
the United States to work for
of his images that have
helped define American
photojournalism.
Kennerly has also
photographed world leaders
including Emperor Hirohito
of Japan, Leonid Brezhnev of
the USSR, Francisco Franco
of Spain, Ceausescu of
Romania, Ferdinand Marcos
in Cuba. This offer was
followed by many others,
including President Anwar
Sadat in Egypt, the horrors
of Jonestown in Guyana,
and major projects for
Newsweek, LIFE, ABC Good
Morning America Sunday,
and George Magazine.
Kennerly has photographed
Five Presidents— Nov. 4,1991. Simi Valley, Calif. Presidents George Bush, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Gerald
Ford and Richard Nixon during the Ronald Reagan Library dedication.
Photo by David Hume Kennerly
sch ool a few tim es, b u t n ever
on any formal occasion. One
of these days I'd like to drop
by and give a talk about
how a kid from a little town
in Oregon covered several
wars, traveled the world
with kings, queens and
presidents, and lived to tell
about it!" Kennerly said. "I
just want kids to realize how
good they have it at WLHS,
and to take full advantage
of the opportunities that are
available to you guys."
His first official
Time magazine, and in mid-
1973 threw himself into the
domestic battles then raging
in Washington.
"There's no question
that winning the Pulitzer
Prize was the single most
important work-related
event in my life. It was
totally unexpected. It is
my profession's highest
honor, and guarantees me
an obituary in the New York
Times when I pass on to the
A ctio n sh o t o f V ietn am so ld iers fro m K e n n e d y ’s 1971 P u litz e r
photography job was as a
staff photographer for the
Oregon Journal and then the
Oregonian which led him to
a position with United Press
International (UPI).
"When I became a staff
photographer for the Oregon
Journal, I was positive that
this was the career field for
next level!" Kennerly said.
After Richard Nixon
resigned, Kennerly was on
the South Lawn of the White
House as the soon-to-be
ex-President departed. His
historic photo of Nixon's
wave goodbye taken when
Kennerly was just 27 years
old, is one of the dozens
of the Philippines, Josip Tito
of Yugoslavia, Suharto of
Indonesia, Deng Xiao Ping
of the Peoples Republic of
China, and Queen Elizabeth
of England during the
bicentennial celebration at
the White House.
Kennerly is both modest
and insightful about the
privileges he has been
blessed with in his life.
"It's hard for me to
pick out my best or most
meaningful photo out of
the thousands I have taken,
although two that stick with
me are both related to war.
One was taken in Vietnam
on Easter in 1971 of a lonely
and tired soldier, a cross
dangling from his neck, as
he rested near his machine
gun near Khe Sanh,"
Kennerly said. "Another
was a 1975 picture of a
little Cambodian refugee
girl in Phnom Penh, a dog
tag around her neck, as she
looked hopelessly into my
camera. Two weeks later
the Cambodian capital was
overrun by the communists,
and my guess is that she
was most likely killed. My
photograph of Anwar Sadat,
Egypt's president, standing
in front of the pyramids also
ranks way up on my list."
After serving as President
Gerald Ford's official
photographer, Kennerly
was approached with a job
offer by Time. He was asked
to photograph Fidel Castro
more than 35 covers for
Time and Newsweek, covered
assignments in more than
130 countries, and counts
more than one million
images in his photographic
archive.
Presently he serves as
National Program Chair
for Washington Mutual's
forward-thinking "Home
of the Free™ Student
Photojournalism Project."
Home of the Free gives
seventh- and eighth -grade
students the opportunity
to learn how photography
is used in news reporting
about government, while
creating photos of public
servants in their own
communities.
Kennerly currently
resides Santa Monica, but
is constantly traveling the
globe, most recently visiting
in Baghdad, Kaboul, Paris
and Hong Kong. He is
currently a contributor for
NBC News, and has been
shooting on the front lines
of history for four decades.
He has photographed eight
wars, seven presidents, and
has traveled to more than
140 countries along the way.
"I consider myself a global
photographer, as much in
my element in the desert
covering a war as I am in the
oval office photographing
the commander-in-chief.
continued on page 7
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