David Michael Kennedy walks out of his darkroom, enthusiastically exclaiming, "There's something so special about palladium printing, and the making of the emulsion ... the quality of the print is beautiful, there is nothing like it. . . "

PF: Isn't it rare these days for a photographer to make his own emulsions?

DK: Everything in photography has become so automatic. The cameras do everything for you. It's nice to go into the darkroom and spend time working to create a fine print. I'm even coating my own paper; and I discovered there are six different formulas for Dektol.

Kennedy has many fine prints hanging on the walls of his studio. They are mostly portraits of celebrities he has photographed while on assignment for Spin, Omni or Penthouse magazines. There are also some stunning black-and-white posters done for CBS Records of Isaac Stern, David Johansen, and Hubert Laws.

PF: These are great portraits, David. Have you had any gallery shows?

DK: I am looking to have gallery shows. That is one reason I am doing palladium prints. I haven't had much experience with shows. In 1975, Barbara Rose of Vogue wrote a piece on established as well as up-and-coming art photographers, and she included me in that piece. I did a show in 1979 at the SoHo Photo Gallery. It was well received. But I don't push getting shows and I don't push in business... it's definitely my weak point.

PF: Do you feel gallery shows are important?

DK: It hurts tremendously not to get your work out there. It's a little troublesome sometimes. I find once I make prints I feel comfortable putting them in a box and filing them for some future time. Showing the work and getting the gratification of someone saying, "Wow, that's really beautiful," is secondary.

PF: But you are a commercial photographer?

DK: Well, my career is a very weird thing.

PF: Let's start at the beginning. What is your background in photography?

DK: I started out in California doing nature photography. I had a little studio in a town called Eureka, way up in the north woods. In the early seventies, I had to come to New York for back surgery and I figured I'd stay for six or seven months and return to Eureka. That was about sixteen years ago. Here I am still in New York; I kind of got stuck here!

PF: For a photography career it's not a bad place to get stuck

DK: Yes and no. The best is here, and you learn the most here. New York has a lot of good points. I'm still here, so it must have something for me. When I got here back in the early seventies I didn't know what I wanted to do, so I assisted a still life photographer for about a year and a half.

PF: Who was that?

DK: Rudy Legname, who was very hot in the sixties. I learned a hell of a lot from Rudy. He did exquisite lighting and was an incredible technician.

PF: What was the most important thing you learned from him?

DK: I learned I did not want to do still life photography. Fooling around all day with props got me a little crazy. But it is a hell of a fantastic way to learn lighting and composition and the technical aspects of photography. I learned a phenomenal amount from Rudy. After working for him, I free-lanced for a while and then decided it was time for me to open my own studio. I did it with one camera, one lens, no money and no book.

PF: What was your direction in photography at that time?

DK: I really didn't have a direction in mind. I knew I wanted to take pictures, which is where I still am today to a certain extent. So for about a year and a half I futzed around in fashion because it was accessible. Other than still life, fashion is probably one of the easier areas to get started in... it's easy at least to put together a book. You get a roll of film, a pretty girl, and you shoot.

PF: Were you successful at it?

DK: Semi-successful. I was doing things for name designers like Bill Blass and Regina Cravetz and others. I didn't really like the fashion industry. It wasn't quite where my head was at.

PF: A little far from Eureka in spirit, I imagine.

DK: Yes. But I put my book together, brought it up to Benton & Bowles and became friendly with an art director named John Fisher and his assistant, Hillary Vermont. Hillary really liked my work and started giving me good assignments. She moved on to CBS Records' advertising department; that was in the mid-seventies. CBS Records at that time was spending a lot of money on advertising. They had ten designers in the advertising department. Hillary gave me her first project and within a short time I was working for all the designers there. They seemed to like what I did.