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David Hume Kennerly

Pulitzer Prize Winning Photographer

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Archives for September 2014

My 9-11

September 11, 2014 By David Hume Kennerly

The evening of September 10, 2001 I was having dinner with Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne in the VP residence. They were old friends from the President Ford days when I was the head White House photographer, and Dick Cheney was deputy chief of staff, then the chief after his boss Donald Rumsfeld became Ford's Secretary of Defense, (the youngest ever). Cheney and I probably spent more time with the president than anyone outside of his immediate family, and had become close during those days. We made all the trips, rode in the control car just behind the Secret Service follow-up vehicle, and in the senior staff section of Air Force One. I can only equate the relationship to those I formed with certain friends during the Vietnam War who I was with under enemy fire. Working in the White House sometimes had that same feel to it!  Everything that evening couldn't have been more normal, and I even slipped him the resume of a friend who was trying to get a job in the administration. Dick said he would see what he could do, and put it into his briefcase to take to work with him the next day. After what happened the next morning, it's probably still there.

”‹September 11. I was getting ready to head over to the Newsweek in Washington where I had a small office. I was a contributing editor for the magazine, doing special photo stories for them. I had the television on watching the CBS morning show when they went live with a picture of the World Trade Center. Shortly before 9 am they said a plane had crashed into it, and you could see an almost cartoon-like silhouette of an airplane that had gone into the building. Smoke was coming out of the building. I was transfixed by the sight, and a few minutes later, shortly after nine a.m., live and in color, a second plane crashed in the other WTC tower. It was in an instant the most horrifying thing I have ever seen, and instantly replaced Jonestown as my worst visual experience. At that point I started out for the Newsweek office, located only a block and half from the White House. At 9:37 am, shortly before I got to Newsweek, an airliner crashed into the Pentagon. By the time I got up to the office, which has a balcony overlooking the Potomac and the Pentagon a mile or so away, I could see the smoke billowing out. At this point, nobody had any idea if more attacks were coming, so I took photos from my vantage point from across the river, and also kept a camera trained on the U.S. Capitol dome. For all we knew that might be next. I continued shooting photos of the Pentagon, and caught a moment of a helicopter going by, then a few minutes later an F-15 fighter jet made a pass above the burning building. I have what may be the only photo of that happening. For the rest of the day I stayed put at the Newsweek office, out on the deck, waiting for something else to happen. The White House just down the street had been given an evacuation order, but fortunately the Pentagon attack was the one and only hit on the Nation's Capital.

The Pentagon is on fire after being hit by American Airlines flight 77 that had been hijacked by terrorists

A lone F-16 makes a pass over the burning Pentagon on 9/11/01

September 12. Early in the morning I talked to my old friend from the Ford White House days, Sec. of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and he suggested that I ride over to the Pentagon with him. We drove to the scene where Flight 77 had hit the building. It was still dark out, and the building was lit up by a bank of lights. It was an eerie sight. Moments later Rumsfeld's security guards hustled us out because they had received another threat. 

Later that  day President George W. Bush and Secretary Rumsfeld surveyed the damage. I've never seen a more resolute expression on a man's face as the president turned and walked away from the scene. At that moment there was no doubt in my mind that the President and Rumsfeld were going to do something about this attack on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and America itself.

A grim President George W. Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld at the scene of the attack on the Pentagon

A giant flag is unfurled by some of the  firefighters who fought the blaze after the terrorist attack to greet President Bush when he arrived at the Pentagon. It was a deeply emotional moment for those who gathered there.

As President Bush visited the scene, a huge American flag is unfurled from the roof of the Pentagon by firefighters next to where the plane hit.

September 13. I was with Sec. Rumsfeld at the Pentagon when another threat came in. We were hustled out to his car by his security agents, and sped away. He was supposed to have a phone conversation with Secretary of State Colin Powell, but Powell suggested he just come over to the State Department instead. We were a couple of blocks away from Powell's office when Rumsfeld ordered his security guys to pull over. We stopped in front of the Federal Reserve building. "Turn around and head back to the Pentagon," he told them. He looked at me and said, "I'm just not going to let these threats keep me jumping, we're going back."  I smiled, and said, "You can let me out here." He laughed, and we went back to his office at the Department of Defense. He never left the building again due to a threat.

Sec. of Defense Don Rumsfeld pulls over to talk to Sec. of State Colin Powell before turning his car around to head back to the Pentagon.

I spent the next days inside the Pentagon with Don Rumsfeld, and documented him and his team as they geared up for the strike on Afghanistan. I flew with him to the Middle East before the attack, and was there with him in his office when the operation  commenced. I also made several trips to Afghanistan and Iraq with him over the next few years, but that's a story for another day!

Filed Under: Blog

Warsaw Scenes

September 10, 2014 By David Hume Kennerly

Here are some random snaps from my first full day in Warsaw. I strolled around the old city on a Saturday afternoon, a place jumping with tourists, and brides and grooms having their wedding photos taken, a local tradition. I came across a military ceremony that was honoring they fallen at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the most important monument of its kind in the country. Poland suffered the most deaths per capita than any other country during WWII.

Guide books in the Warsaw Old City Market

The main square in Warsaw's old city

An old accordion player who looks a bit like a monument himself!

On the cutting edge in the old city

Outside the Lawenda Cafe in the old city where I had lunch

Perogies at the Lawenda Cafe

Important information

Column 1

Hard rock candy shop

Column 2

Candy making in the shop

Bride and groom among the tourists in the old city

A bride waits for her close-up

Levitating bride?

Memo to self. Get married today.

Military honor guard at Tomb of Unknown Soldier Ceremony

Polish generals at a ceremony honoring their fallen comrades

Trooping the line

Warsaw's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier after wreath laying ceremony

Statue of Pope John Paul II in front of Warsaw's All Saints Church

Statue of Pope Saint John Paul II, born Karol Józef Wojtyła in Poland, also known as Saint John Paul the Great

Filed Under: Blog

In the Room When Ford Pardoned Nixon

September 8, 2014 By David Hume Kennerly

The following post contains several unpublished photos that I took of President Ford before, during, and after the pardon of Richard Nixon forty years ago today.

Sunday, September 8, 1974 started off in a fairly routine fashion for President Gerald R. Ford. He attended St. John's church just across Lafayette Square from the White House, then returned to the White House. What happened after that insured that he would not get a term in his own right as President of the United States. He pardoned Richard Nixon.

President Ford leaves St. John's church on his way back to the White House to sign the Nixon pardon.

Before he publicly announced the pardon President Ford made a series of telephone calls to inform the leaders of the House and Senate what he was going to do. He phoned, (in this order), Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield, Speaker of the House Carl Albert, Senate Minority Leader Hugh Scott, House Majority Leader Tip O'Neill, Attorney General William Saxbe, House Majority Whip John McFall, Vice President-designate Nelson Rockefeller, and Senator Barry Goldwater.

Head speechwriter Robert Hartmann and I were the only ones with President Ford in his private hideaway next to the oval office as he prepared to make the fateful announcement. The president sat by himself and looked over the proclamation. He didn't say anything to either of us. The decision was made, he was ready, and moments later he stood up, a look of resolution on his face, and said, "Let's go."  

President Ford looks over Nixon pardon document in his private office before publicly signing it a few minutes later

President Ford with speechwriter Robert Hartmann seconds before entering the oval office to sign the pardon of former President Nixon

At 11:16 am in the oval office, President Ford reads the announcement before signing the pardon. At the end of his talk he said, 

". . . I, GERALD R. FORD, President of the United States, pursuant to the pardon power conferred upon me by Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, have granted and by these presents do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 20, 1969 through August 9, 1974. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eighth day of September, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and seventy-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and ninety-ninth."

Sitting behind his desk in the oval office, President Gerald R. Ford prepares to read the text of the Nixon pardon

President Ford reads the text of the pardon in front of a lone television camera on Sunday morning, September 8, 1974.

Phil Buchen, President Ford's chief legal counselor and old law partner from Grand Rapids, watches the proceedings.

President Ford signs the paper pardoning former President Richard Nixon

(Yes, I shot this one in color...)

Moments after signing the pardon, President Ford walked down the hallway to the office of Bill Timmons who was head of legislative affairs. Timmons was there fielding calls from members of Congress about the pardon, along with Ford's (and Nixon's) chief of staff Alexander Haig, White House counselor Jack Marsh, and Hartmann. What I found shocking was that almost everyone who called in that morning privately told the president that he had done the right thing, but publicly went out and lambasted him. At that point I had quite a bit to learn about real politics. As usual President Ford took it all in stride, but definitely felt the pressure.

President Ford gets reaction from Congress in the office of his legislative affairs assistant. (L-R) Robert Hartmann, Bill Timmons, the President, Al Haig, Jack Marsh.

Photographing ironic moments is my strong suit, and this photo of President Ford under a picture of himself as vice president and Nixon as president minutes after the pardon is right up there in the heavy irony category.

(L-R) Bob Hartmann, Al Haig, Bill Timmons, the president, and Jack Marsh.

President Ford seems deep in thought minutes after pardoning former President Nixon

President Ford's approval rating plummeted from 71 to 37 after the Nixon pardon, and he wasn't able to politically recover in order to win a term in his own right. There was a lot of piling on among his fellow pols. Sen. Teddy Kennedy in a speech in Los Angeles after the pardon said, "So we operate under a system of equal justice under the law? Or is there one system for the average citizen, and another for the high and mighty." Ouch. Unfortunately that pretty well reflected what the majority of Americans thought at the time, and Ford's popularity was in the cellar.

By 2001 Senator Kennedy had changed his tune, and along with Caroline Kennedy presented President Ford with the JFK Profile in Courage Award.”‹ The award was created in 1989 by members of President Kennedy's family to honor the fallen president and to recognize and celebrate the quality of political courage that he admired most. "For the scientist, the moment is the Nobel or the Lasker; for the journalist, the Pulitzer; the actor, the Oscar. For those in government, it is the Kennedy." Governor Lowell Weicker

Sen. Kennedy said, "Unlike many of us at the time, President Ford recognized that the nation had to move forward, and could not do so if there was a continuing effort to prosecute former President Nixon. His courage and dedication to our country made it possible for us to begin the process of healing and put the tragedy of Watergate behind us."

Caroline Kennedy, now the ambassador to Japan, while presenting the award to President Ford said, "For more than a quarter century, Gerald Ford proved to the people of Michigan, the Congress, and our nation that politics can be a noble profession. As President, he made a controversial decision of conscience to pardon former president Nixon and end the national trauma of Watergate. In doing so, he placed his love of country ahead of his own political future."

President Ford told me later that the Profile in Courage Award was one of the most important things that ever happened to him. He was very emotional when he talked about it, and a tear ran down his cheek as he recounted the experience. 

”‹

Page 1 - President Ford's Sept. 8, 1974 schedule

Page 2 - President Ford's Sept. 8, 1974 schedule

Added information to President Ford's Sept. 8, 1974 schedule

Filed Under: Blog

Warsaw – 39 years Later

September 7, 2014 By David Hume Kennerly

My first trip to Poland was July 28, 1974 as President Gerald R. Ford's White House photographer. He was the second U.S. President to visit the country, Richard Nixon was the first. Ford was given a full-on state ceremony, including a ride through the streets in an open car with Edward Gierek, First Secretary of the Polish United Workers Party, and the man in charge.  The route was lined with cheering people waving Polish and American flags. It was a good photo, a scene you will never again see with a U.S. president due to tighter security.

The Poland visit was particularly memorable for me. The motorcade made an unscheduled stop, and President Ford and Gierek got out and started shaking hands with people along the parade route. I hopped out to take photos, but the two men quickly got back in their car and the motorcade took off leaving me stranded. Another limousine was slowly coming by, and I waved it down. There was an older woman sitting alone in the back who looked friendly enough, a guy driving, and another man sitting in the front next to him. I got in the back with her, introduced myself, and thanked her for the lift. She spoke a little English, introduced herself, and to the man in the front. "This is my husband, Piotr Jaroszewicz, President of Poland," she said. He turned and gave me a little wave. Uh oh. I just committed a major security breach. Sure enough, I looked behind us, and there was a follow-up car filled with really pissed-off looking Polish secret service guys. As soon as we stopped, I quickly thanked her for the ride, and made it back unscathed to the U.S. side.

U.S. President Gerald R. Ford and Polish leader Edward Gierek in an open motorcade in Warsaw, July 28, 1975.

This latest landing in Warsaw was way more uneventful. I flew in from Munich after a non-stop flight to Germany on Lufthansa from the states. The reason for the trip was to photograph another gathering of the Global Ambassadors Program, a Vital Voices and Bank of America partnership designed to provide mentorship opportunities for emerging women leaders around the world. Previous trips to document this excellent program have taken me to Haiti, India, Indonesia, Singapore, Brazil, and Northern Ireland. 

On the approach to Warsaw International, a lone truck on the road surrounded by green fields

A bit of advice an old-timer gave me that I always follow is to get out and shoot right away when you visit someplace you've never been. He was right. Nothing is more exciting and fresher than new sights, and even though I'd been here four decades earlier, those memories are pretty dim. The landscape in Warsaw is dominated by a huge building that was a gift of the Soviets to the Polish people in 1955, (even though the Poles had to pay for it). It was originally called the Joseph Stalin Palace of Culture & Science, but Joe's name was dropped way back. Many people around Warsaw resent the monstrous edifice, and as some are prone to say, the best view of Warsaw where you don't see it is from the building itself.   As a long-time connoisseur of commie kitsch, I love it! The day I landed in Warsaw I set out to take several views of the place. It was late afternoon, the light was great, and my mission was clear.  Day 1 in Warsaw would, even though it was a short one, would be about getting some different views of Uncle Joe's Palace.

A view of Stalin's gift from my hotel window.

A view of the Palace of Culture & Science from down the street. The modern buildings make the 50's structure look out of place.

Another angle on the building from further down the street

A close-up of the Palace of Culture & Science

The view from the health club on the 43rd floor of the Intercontinental Hotel

There were other things to see around the hotel, this movie poster among them. I always like to capture local contemporary color, or in this case, local black and white! 

I missed Na Krawedzi 1 . . .

Anti-war graffiti on a wall near the Palace of Culture & Science

Filed Under: Blog

The 100-Minute Photo Workout

September 3, 2014 By David Hume Kennerly

Yesterday I gave myself a visual challenge: Shoot 20 or more unique, (and hopefully good), photos where I take pictures all the time, and do it in 100 minutes or less. (I had to be somewhere at 9 am!). This is similar to what I did every single day last year in pursuit of pictures for my latest book, "David Hume Kennerly On the iPhone." (It will be out in early October).  I chose the Santa Monica Pier because it's close to where I live, is a fun place to shoot, and hanging out on the beach in Santa Monica is not exactly like being thrown in the briar patch! These pictures were all taken with my iPhone between 7:02 am and 8:42 am on September 2, 2014. I now call it, "Kennerly's 100-Minute Photo Workout!"

7:02 am. A jogger with his really tired looking poodle near the Santa Monica Pier

7:21 am The sun rises over Santa Monica. A view from the pier.

7:34 am Wave and pier

7:35 am Gull against wave

7:36 am Gull and intersecting lines

7:38 am Gull takes flight

7:42 am Looks like jail to me. A homeless man on the pier.

7:45 am Teeny, tiny-looking gull and binoculars

7:46 am HDR view of Santa Monica Pier

7:50 am Lady in red with white poodle on red leash

7:54 am My feet with fire hydrant and fish cleaning sink below

7:55 am Birds in black & white

7:58 am Tire of police vehicle

8: 02 am Homeless person sleeping under blanket as police vehicle cruises by above

8:04 am Homeless Yankees fan

8:05 Lady in red (again) one bench over from Yankees guy

8:09 am Sign of the good old days

8:12 am Picking up trash on the beach below the pier

8:30 Burger joint

8:33 Bubba Gump's tourist trap restaurant

8:42 A full circle completed, Muscle Beach signing off!

Whew! That was fun!

Filed Under: Blog

Iceland – Day 5 and 6 of Backroads Trip

September 1, 2014 By David Hume Kennerly

Day 5 started with a spectacular cloud-encrusted sunrise that provided a dramatic backdrop to the Hotel Ranga where we were staying.  Our destinations today were a geyser, a waterfall, and a bike ride along a lake. Iceland has a multitude of water-related activities, whether it is frozen or just flowing.

Sunrise over the Hotel Ranga.

Our Backroads leader Eva briefs by the bear at the Ranga about what we'll be doing during the day

Every morning before embarking on our daily adventure the group is provided great snacks for the trek. I'm particularly partial to the dried figs.

Mount Katla, an active volcano that is one of the largest in Iceland, is covered with volcanic-looking clouds early in the morning as we set off in the vans.

The first stop of the day was in the geothermal Haukadalur Valley to see the Great Geysir. I really looked forward to seeing it go off. Old Faithful in Yellowstone is one of my favorite spots, and this one is right up there on the KPS,  (Kennerly Photo Scale!).

The Grand Geysir going full blast combines with the cloud in the background to achieve an H-Bomb effect.

Another eruption of the Grand Geysir with the sun behind it, a trick I learned from Ansel Adams' fabulous Old Faithful photography

The Gullfoss waterfall was the next target for our Backroads group, and it's a big one. The fall is on the Hvita River, and plunges 105 feet into a narrow canyon. When you approach it from above, it is a formidable sight, and my way of recording its immensity was to show the people on the rocks above it.

The Gullfoss waterfall dwarfs the people standing on the cliff above it

A panoramic view of the Gullfoss waterfall

Rebecca gets on the same plane as James by standing on a rock. Our 16-year-old high school junior is now the tallest in the family.

Backroads provides some unique location for lunches, and they are always looking for a place that not only serves great food, but in the mind of this photographer, visual feasts as well. On the way to lunch at a local dairy, we drove by a farm that stood out against the green fields. I shot this photo from the moving van.

A church near a farm with baled hay in the foreground makes for a wonderful Icelandic scene.

I love Icelandic clouds! This one hangs over the farm where we had lunch. The present dairy farmers here are the seventh generation to own and run the place, and boy do they make great ice cream!

The Backroads vans from the window of the dairy

An old farm machine in the field outside the dairy

These kids fell in love with the farmer's dog

Two of our merry band take a break after a great lunch

The last activity of the day was to bike around Thingvallavatan Lake, located in a Natioanl Park of the same long and unpronounceable name. The park is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the symbolic heart of the Icelandic nation. The country's first general assembly was established here in 930 AD through 1798. Forty per cent of all Icelandic flora is found here, but nothing taller than a dwarf birch. You won't catch a glimpse of an elf reclining underneath that tiny tree, and even though they aren't ever seen, more than half of the population of Iceland believes in their existence. I like that about them.

It's not unusual to have animals cross the road in front of you, usually sheep, but in this case geese.

Backroads leader Eva briefs the bikers before they set out on their trek.

Getting ready for the ride

Jackson takes the hill

Biking in Thingvallavatn National Park

This leg up the hill was challenging. One of the great things about these Backroads trips I've discovered after being on three of them is that you don't always have to be tied to the group, but can ride solo for long stretches if you like.

Allison zooms by, looking very much like a participant in the Tour de France, if perhaps a bit chillier.

The ride ended at the Hotel ION for the last night of our trip.  Travel blog iEscape called the hotel,  "Scandi-chic adventure hotel in a spectacularly surreal landscape of moss-covered lava fields, geysers and steaming rivers, by Thingvellir National Park." It's otherworldly all right, but so is Iceland!

The Hotel ION in Nesjavellir, our last stop in Iceland

All of the Backroads group our last night, including me--naturally I directed the bartender on how to take the pic!

Iceland -- Day 6 (and the last one of the trip).  

Day 6, and it was time to head home, but not before one more small adventure. As the rest of the crew went off on a hike, James and I wanted to explore a nearby thermal power plant that was steaming away about a half a mile from the hotel. It was Sunday, and nobody was around. There was a sign in Icelandic, (or in other words,  in no known language), on the closed gate in front of the plant. We figured it said either, "Stay Out," or, "You Are Welcome, Come In." We went with the latter. The Icelandic people, after all, are known for their hospitality, and the gate wasn't locked, so in we went. The security was not only negligible, but there were even sheep wandering around in there, and one of them in particular, to its credit, was keeping an eye on us. James left his backpack by the side of the road, and two sheep came over to check it out, no doubt looking for some tasty treat. In Iceland I bet kids use the excuse, "A sheep ate my homework." The geothermal facility was a photo dream, and on top of that, produces clean energy. Perfect combination. James was using the Hasselblad that his grandfather gave him, and I was shooting in black and white using both my Canon 5D Mark III and the ever-present iPhone. We both made a few goo frames.

A curious animal, (a security guard in sheep's clothing?), checks us out.

A sheep ate my homework! (And I have the photographic evidence).

The Hengill Geothermal plant from the inside

James Kennerly, Hasselblad in hand, looks for a photo at the geothermal plant

One of James' photos of the facility

Into the sunset . . . A Backroads van carrying some of our fellow adventurers, drives past geothermal pipes as we head to Keflavik Airport to start the journey home. 

I highly recommend Iceland to anyone who hasn't been. I also am a big fan of Backroads, and suggest that you check them out for any trip you are thinking about with the family or friends, almost anywhere on earth. We're already planning our next one with them!

Filed Under: Blog

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