At the age of 27, Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer David Hume Kennerly was appointed President Gerald R. Ford’s Chief White House Photographer, granting him unfettered access to the 38th President of the United States. At a point where public trust in the presidency was at an all-time low, Kennerly’s photography opened a window for the American public to see their president not only as a leader, but as a husband, a father, and a friend, and thus reestablished a much-needed sense of trust in the office.
On Tuesday, March 26, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Downtown Grand Rapids, MI, will host “Extraordinary Circumstances: The Presidency of Gerald R. Ford,” a fireside chat with Kennerly and Susan Ford Bales. Kennerly will share his unique perspective on President Ford’s humanity and his impact on our community and our country.
DigitalFusion partner and Head of Post Production Hugh Milstein worked one-on-one with Kennerly to painstakingly re-master, print and custom frame all the images for this exhibition, which will feature among others, images from Nixon’s last day in office and Ford’s first day in office. Each museum quality print has been made with 200-year archival ink and hand framed to last generations.
For nearly a decade, DigitalFusion has scanned, archived and maintained much of Kennerly’s Pulitzer Prize-winning pieces and his historical body of work. The premiere professional digital photographic services company also helped produce a limited-edition box set collection of twelve prints from Kennerly’s 1972 Pulitzer Prize-winning portfolio, originally released in 2018.
