Press Coverage Reprinted from Photo Design Magazine 1986

By Emily H. Simon

The photographer's eye is inherently subjective. No photograph is entirely free of allusion. Even those photographers most concerned with the recording of reality are unable to divorce themselves from aesthetic taste - from the generally opposing forces of art and truth or the precarious balance between form and content. Documentarians struggle to depict truth by exploiting the medium's most valuable attribute, its apparent objectivity and mechanized verisimilitude. Yet, the camera's ability to show even the inconsequential aspects of things in minute detail forces the photographer to formulate judgements of value. By virtue of conscious structural decisions - camera placement, depth of field and positioning of the subject - stereotypes as well as connotations may be reinforced or minimized. By embellishing (or sublimating) their evocative power through techniques of lighting, exposure and printing, the photographer may markedly heighten the emotive impact of his intended message. The resultant image, in essence, can never reveal a veritable "reality" but only one man's humanism - one artist's truth revelation, "Every step in the process of making a photograph is preceded by a conscious decision which depends on the man in back of the camera and the qualities that go to make up that man, his taste, to say nothing of his philosophy," wrote Berenice Abbott in 1964. "The portrait is your mirror," German portraitist August Sander stated succinctly. "It's YOU."		The philosophical optimism that is reflected in New York photographer David Michael Kennedy's mirror is infused with intimate beauty and sensitive grace. Renowned for his album cover portraits as well as editorial photography, Kennedy imbues his commercial work with both ardent passion and intelligence. In fact, Kennedy's stunning assignment work could be viewed as comfortably on a gallery wall as on the printed page. It illuminates the man himself and distinguishes the artist. On an unseasonably steamy afternoon in March a strong sun streams through the open windows of Kennedy's West 18th Street loft, filtering past the numerous prints that meticulously line the foyer walls. Dislocated from the audible bustle of the city streets below, the studio/living quarters are, at once, a capacious and consoling haven that makes the visitor feel immediately at home. Emerging from his darkroom, Kennedy sinks easily into a black lacquer chair at his dining room table and recalls the genesis of his work, recounting the formation of his current style, his esthetics and his dreams for the future. "I was staying with friends on Long Island," Kennedy reminisces of his introduction to photography at the age of 17. "While everyone was asleep I picked up a camera, went outside and wandered around looking through the lens. I immediately related to being able to isolate space and time. It was great fun. So I went to New York Institute of Photography for six months and got out of there thinking I was a photographer. The idea lasted for about a year. Then I realized that was just the beginning."
COPYRIGHT BPI COMMUNICATIONS INC. USED WITH PERMISSION FROM PHOTO DESIGN MAGAZINE.