Featuring: El Rito Fine Art Photographer, David Michael Kennedy.

Frank's Place 13 1/2 x 18 inch, Palladium Print,edition of 10, March 1988

David Michael Kennedy 
Fine Art Photographer
VISIT ARTIST'S WEBSITE 

Leaving New York and commercial photography in 1986
​David Michael Kennedy moved to New Mexico and
​began to focus on his fine art photography.

White Trees 17 1/2 x 21 3/4 inch, Palladium Print, edition of 30, March 1988

"Kennedy has been most often compared to photographers Edward Sheriff Curtis and William Henry Jackson. Both Curtis and Jackson are among the most well known artists who fueled the romantic myth of the American West of the imagination by championing the land in its unspoiled state. Kennedy subscribes firmly to their tradition. His landscapes are effectively devoid of human life. Even in those images where there are remnants of human intervention on the land: a road, a solitary church, a seemingly abandoned graveyard, silhouetted teepees, only ghosts haunt the images, no people from any tribe remain. The images are archival, each is unique and shows the hand of the artist as he lovingly hand prints them in palladium or platinum/palladium, nineteenth century photographic processes that reinforce the lonely beauty of the landscapes by obscuring air pollution and the detritus of human existence littering the landscape. Using palladium aligns the photographer firmly with a nineteenth century sensibility. Kennedy’s landscapes document his presence at sites long held sacred to all peoples, the photographs record a moment of sublime enjoyment at the majesty of Shiprock or Monument Valley. Taken as a whole, they are a celebration of our shared interest in the natural wonders of the West."
Mary Anne Redding, Curator of Photography, Palace of the Governors/New Mexico History Museum

Back Street Taos 15 x 19 1/4 inch, Palladium Print, edition of 30, July 1975

Church Scenic South Dakota 15 x 18 1/2, Palladium Print,edition of 20, July 1993

Monument Valley 15 x 18 1/2 inch, Palladium Print, edition of 30, February 1995

David's impressive and vast body of work includes iconic portraits of musicians, actors and artists. Visitors often find themselves stumbling onto recognizable pictures of Bob Dylan, Debbie Harry or Willie Nelson –pictures that they have known well and for years-but now have the opportunity to meet the artist and hear the stories behind the famous images.

Bob Dylan, Zuma Beach, California 1985 14 1/2 x 14 1/2 inch, Palladium Print, edition of 30, October 1985

Nicholas Herrera 1 16 x 16 inch, Palladium Print edition of 10, December 2009

Willie Nelson, Brewster, New York 15 x 15 inch, Palladium Print edition of 10, July 1990

Fedelino J. Salazar, Cerrillos, February 1988 15 3/4 x 13 1/4, Palladium Print, edition of 20, February 1988

I have been photographing people, well known and unknown, for over 30 years.  My primary interest has been to discover and unveil the uniqueness that makes each person a unique being.  I find that when I successfully photograph a person the image we create is quite amazing.  The people I’ve had the pleasure of photographing are truly beautiful, even when our culture may say that they aren’t, and this becomes fully evident in examining the finished work.  Because my goal is to reveal the “soul” of each individual, I prefer that the viewer engage actively in a duologue with the person photographed.  When the person sitting for a portrait speaks to me with their eyes wide open to the inquiring camera, they create the possibility for a conversation with whomever may examine the photograph in the future.  I’m thrilled by the possibility of creating a space in which the subject may reveal themselves in an intimate way, with a viewer whose only access to understanding them is through the single image.  Much power exists in this interchange and I am honored by the trust exhibited by both the subjects and viewers engaging in this silent interchange...  David Michael Kennedy

Photographic Studio and Gallery
​1179 Highway 554
El Rito NM 87530
505-660-3312
Open by appointment only

Come visit David at his Studio and Gallery in the small Northern New Mexico Village of El Rito, about an hour north of Santa Fe, nestled between Ojo Caliente and the historic Abiquiu Inn, just a stones throw from Ghost Ranch. The scope of his work ranges from portfolios of Native American Dance Images and landscapes of the Southwest to his collection of portraits recently acquired by The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.

New Mexico artists are amazing!
Discover New Mexico’s Art Treasures & support 
the people who create them.

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