The School of Journalism and Broadcasting, through the generous contribution of Canon Inc., is bringing in internationally acclaimed photographer David Hume Kennerly on Wednesday, March 17, to give a presentation about his work and career that has spanned four decades. The presentation will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Mass Media and Technology Hall auditorium. This is free and open to everyone, faculty, staff, and students, and anyone else you would like to invite!
James Earl Jones said, “David Hume Kennerly is like Forrest Gump, except he was really there.”
Kennerly has been shooting on the front lines of history for more than 40 years. He has photographed eight wars, as many U.S. presidents, and he has traveled to dozens of countries along the way. At 25, the Roseburg, Oregon, native won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for his photographs of the Vietnam War, and two years later was appointed President Gerald R. Ford¹s personal photographer. He has been presented with numerous other honors, among them the Overseas Press Club’s Olivier Rebbot Award for “Best Photographic Reporting from Abroad,” for his coverage of Reagan and Gorbachev¹s historic first summit meeting in Geneva. He was named, “One of the 100 Most Important People in Photography” by American Photo Magazine.
Kennerly was nominated for a Primetime Emmy as executive producer of NBC’s, “The Taking of Flight 847,” and was writer and Executive Producer of a two-hour NBC pilot, “Shooter,” starring Helen Hunt, based on his Vietnam experiences. “Shooter” won the Emmy for “Outstanding Cinematography.” He is executive producer of the recent documentary, “Portraits of a Lady,” starring former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, which made the short list of films eligible for the 2008 Academy Award nominations.
Kennerly has been on the masthead of Time magazine, John F. Kennedy, Jr.’s George magazine, Life Magazine, and was a contributing editor for Newsweek magazine for 10 years. He has more than 50 major magazine covers to his credit. He has published several books of his work: “Shooter,” “Photo Op,” “Seinoff: The Final Days of Seinfeld,” “Photo du Jour,” and “Extraordinary Circumstances: The Presidency of Gerald R. Ford.” Most recently he produced “Barack Obama: The Official Inaugural Book,” with Bob McNeely, who was President Clinton’s official White House photographer. He also provided someexclusive behind-the-scenes photographs of President Obama for the project.
An exhibition of photographs from the book was mounted in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., that was seen by more than a million people.
Kennerly is on the Board of Trustees of the Gerald R. Ford Foundation and the Atlanta Board of Visitors of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). His archive is housed at the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas, Austin. He recently directed a commercial starring former mayor Ed Koch shot for New York Presbyterian Hospital.
Kennerly has started The Kennerly Institute, in conjunction with the USC Annenberg Center for Communication & Policy. It will run from June 20-25 at the USC campus in Los Angeles.