David Hume Kennerly To The Point WOOD TV (May 2008)

David Hume Kennerly appeared on “To The Point” on NBC 8 WOOD, hosted by Rick Albin, serving Grand Rapids, Holland, and Kalamazoo, Michigan. Hume is a Pulitzer Prize recipient in photography having been awarded the honor in 1972. He has worked for both Life Magazine and TIME. In 1974 at age 27 he became Personal Photographer of President Ford. He currently serves as a Trustee for the Gerald R. Ford Foundation.

Kennerly appeared on the program to discuss his experiences as well as to talk about his exhibit on display at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The photo exhibit chronicles of the life of the Ford Family in The White House. Kennerly called his time in the Ford White House, the “perfect photographic experience”, as he was given unprecedented access to The President and First Family, enabling him to capture some of the most candid photographs of their kind on film.

Kennerly attributed the incredible access given to The President to a mutual respect and friendship, regarding President Ford “an amazing guy“. Kennerly recalled feeling like “He(President Ford) liked me, and he got a kick out of me”, “he wanted me around“. Kennerly and President Ford shared a mutual respect for one another. “ He(President Ford) had a lot of respect for me as a professional person, and I had respect for him as a man and not just a politician”.

Kennerly continued, discussing some of stories behind the most famous and beloved photos during his tenure. He explained the story behind a candid photograph of President and Mrs. Ford along with their daughter, Susan. The family appears behind their Golden Retriever, Liberty, and her litter of puppies. Kennerly elaborated, describing how he and Susan had conspired to find a Golden Retriever for Mrs. Ford after she went in for her mastectomy.

Another story shared by Kennerly is of a photo of Mrs. Ford posing on the Cabinet Room table. He played out a scenario in which Mrs. Ford, walking with him past the room exclaimed that she had always wanted to dance on the table. The picture “really captured her personality”, but would not be published until the release of Kennerly’s book “Photo Op” in 1993.

Posed the question, “what is your favorite photo?”, Kennerly finds it hard to offer only one. Some of the few which he remember most fondly were that of the President and his National Security Staff in the Roosevelt Room of The White House, Future President( then Governor of California) Ronald Reagan and President Ford sitting in “black tie” attire in a room at the Century Plaza Hotel. Perhaps the most defining photo, according to Kennerly, is that of President Ford during the Mayaguez Incident in 1975. In the photograph President Ford sits, glasses atop his head with “determination in the mans eyes apparent; his control of the situation apparent” , the “moment where he assumed the Presidency one hundred percent”.

Kennerly’s exhibit at The Ford Presidential Museum runs through July 25, 2008.

Видео David Hume Kennerly To The Point WOOD TV (May 2008) канала Gerald R. Ford