Occupy DC protesters atop a building they erected in a Washington DC park 13 years ago today. Arrests were made by the police when they refused to dismantle it. This coming Jan 20 DC will officially be occupied, just not by these folks. @cntrforcreativephoto @improvambassador @bob_ahern @petesouza @whnpa @j_kennerly @mikebarnicle
As I walk today’s landscape that is littered with dread and dashed hopes I start to teeter toward pessimism. But a bright light from the past pulls me back from the edge. That glow is the memory of Gerald and Betty Ford. Every time I feel myself going negative their spirit turns me around to my normally optimistic self.
I made this in Hawaii 51 years ago this month when Ford had just become vice president. He was 60, she 55. Still young, certainly at heart! Gerald R. Ford was 64 when he left the presidency. He left it in good shape. Part of his legacy was pardoning Richard Nixon so he could get on with restoring our country back to normalcy. That act caused him to lose the 1976 election, but Ford always said that if had to do it over again he would have. I believe that. It was a humane and unselfish act. He did it because he thought it was the right thing to do. Of course the merits of that are still being argued, although the latest pardon by Joe Biden will finally take some of the heat off Ford!
So here you see a couple in love, carefree in the moment. Eight months later he became the 38th President of the United States. It was also when I joined his team as the president’s photographer. From that time on those people changed my life for the better. And they still do. @sfbpanda @improvambassador @nickkennerly @j_kennerly @_katiemeili @davidburnettfoto @whipplc @cntrforcreativephoto @cvn78_grford @fordlibrarymuseum @mikebarnicle @petesouza @davidvaldezusa @bobmcneelyphoto @sharon.farmer.1481 @shealahdcphoto @schultzinit @jackimages @vtbatman
Wow! Sensational performances at @cirquedusoleil #kooza at the #santamonicapier yesterday. The run goes Jan. 5, 2025. Prepare to be shocked. @nickkennerly @_katiemeili @improvambassador @j_kennerly @adriannabach @petesouza @johnrodphotography @utnicky @raulroa #santamonica @cntrforcreativephoto @markpetersonpixs
My pic of President George Bush who died 6 yrs ago today. He would have been 100 this year. Missing him, his integrity, compassion and honor. @bush41library @davidvaldezusa @nmbush @jebbush @georgewbush @bushfdn @thebushcenter @liz.cheney @cntrforcreativephoto @mikebarnicle @bob_ahern @markpetersonpixs @petesouza @improvambassador @whnpa @reaganlibrary40 @hillaryclinton @wjclibrary42 @cvn78_grford @fordlibrarymuseum @carterlibrary39 @bobmcneelyphoto @vp @potus @joebiden
Love the @simoneyvetteleigh exhibition at @lacma Her work defines creative genius. #simoneleigh @cntrforcreativephoto
Juvenile red-tailed hawk this morning with @j_kennerly at the #malibulagoon with @canonusa #r5MarkII with 1.4 extender on the RF 100-500 took this at 700mm. Sharp like hawk claws! Happy Thanksgiving! @cntrforcreativephoto @improvambassador @nickkennerly @_katiemeili @utnicky @raulroa @petesouza @adriannabach #malibu #canonusa #canonusapro @mikebarnicle @yamashitaphoto @markpetersonpixs
Don’t mess with feisty female finches. Just ask this fleeing Oregon junco. Our birdbath is one continuous photo op! Made today with @canonusa R5 Mark II with my trusty 100-500 mil lens. @cntrforcreativephoto @raulroa @improvambassador @nickkennerly @j_kennerly @_katiemeili @utnicky @petesouza
@michaelakennedycuomo comforts her mom @kerrykennedyrfk as Kerry’s mom Ethel Kennedy is laid to rest next to her husband Sen. Robert F. Kennedy at @arlingtonnatl today. I knew her mom and dad. Sen. Kennedy was my inspiration to pursue a career in politicaI photography. A few decades ago I went sailing with Ethel whose expert but aggressive tactics made me a bit, let’s make that a lot, scared (for a Pisces I’m not much of a water guy). She noticed and said, “Show some courage, David!” Never forgot that. Today was a sad occasion, and let’s never forget Bobby and Ethel, two of the best. @cntrforcreativephoto @improvambassador @nickkennerly @j_kennerly @_katiemeili @local_spice @petesouza @callieshell @vincentjmusi
Members of the Kennedy family at their mother Ethel Kennedy’s casket this morning. (L-R) Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Chris Kennedy, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Kerry Kennedy, and Rory Kennedy. Mrs. Kennedy, the wife of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, was buried next to him at Arlington National Cemetery. @kerrykennedyrfk @cntrforcreativephoto @improvambassador @nickkennerly @j_kennerly @_katiemeili @mikebarnicle @callieshell @vincentjmusi @rfkhumanrights
Great time with friend and colleague Callie Shell and Vincent J Musi (who took this) and their brilliant son Hunter
Juvenile bald eagle yesterday on Kiawah Island CanonR5 Mark II with RF 100-500 at 500mm Center for Creative Photography Jerry McGee Dyllan McGee Raul Roa Nick Ut Byron Kennerly Nick Kennerly James Kennerly Katie Mei Li Taylor
Juvenile #baldeagle on #kiawahisland yesterday. @canonusa #r5 w/RF 100-500 at 500mm Thanks @raulroa for the ID! @cntrforcreativephoto @gdmcgee @improvambassador @nickkennerly @j_kennerly @_katiemeili @utnicky
Crossing the #ravenelbridge in #charleston this morning @cntrforcreativephoto @improvambassador @nickkennerly @j_kennerly @callieshell @vincentjmusi
Bench in The Battery at sunset yesterday, Charleston, SC. @cntrforcreativephoto #charleston @improvambassador
Stopped by to see my dear friends Germaine Swanson and Dick Swanson in Orangeburg, SC. They moved down from the DC to be closer with family. Still missing Germaine’s Restaurant after all these years, but she did prepare an excellent pho for lunch! Rebecca Soladay Kennerly Philip Swanson Justin Swanson Byron Kennerly Mel Brush Nick Kennerly James Kennerly Katie Mei Li Taylor Kathy O`Hearn Dave Burnett
I’m right along here somewhere. @improvambassador @nickkennerly @j_kennerly @_katiemeili @mikebarnicle
Ten years ago today my friend Hayley Carling Thornton sent me this pic with my new book that had just hit #1 in Photojournalism category on Amazon. Stay tuned for my 60 years of photography book in 2026. Haley will get a first edition! Center for Creative Photography
46 years ago today the Jonestown mass murder and suicides happened in Guyana. This is my cover of @time and where the expression “Drinking the Kool-Aid” came from. The vat of purple liquid contained cyanide.
On November 18, 1978, 918 people died at the settlement, at the nearby airstrip in Port Kaituma, and at a Temple in Georgetown, Guyana’s capital city.
909 people died in Jonestown, all but two from cyanide poisoning. I photographed Jim Jones’s body, and he appeared to have died from a gunshot wound to the head. The massacre in Jonestown resulted in the largest single loss of American civilian life in a deliberate act until September 11, 2001. Over three hundred children were murdered there. It was the worst thing I have ever witnessed. The more horrifying reality is that millions of people are metaphorically still drinking the poison. @cntrforcreativephoto @petesouza @mikebarnicle @improvambassador @nickkristof @wapokp @markpetersonpixs @tim.naftali @zirinskysusan
Brilliant performance by @_katiemeili last night at @wonzimer in #losangeles Her songs are funny, ironic, and beautifully sung. She was backed up by @nickkennerly who sang along and accompanied her on the violin. Great evening at a quirky art gallery. @mia.ma.543 @improvambassador @j_kennerly #wonzimer @barniclebrothers @saladheadead @lioragailsher @mollysoladay @taililasoladay #breakingsoundla
“I like people who weren’t captured.”
. . . Donald Trump, 2015, referring to Vietnam war hero John McCain.
I was in Hanoi as the last American prisoners of war were released on Mar. 30, 1973 by the North Vietnamese. McCain, a POW for 5 1/2 years, was let go two weeks earlier. In 1968 he refused a political move by the Vietnamese to release him ahead of others.
I documented the freed men heading for the USAF aircraft that flew them to freedom. Saluting them and all who served on this Veterans Day.
Trump may not like them but I do. How in god’s name could someone who said that be president? Someone who avoided service to his country (read “dodged the draft by drumming up a spurious bone spur claim”). Prepare yourself for round two of the antihero, anti-POW presidency. @jsmccainiv @mccaininstitute @senjohnmccain @cntrforcreativephoto @mikebarnicle @markpetersonpixs @vfwhq