Quick Facts
Biography
David Michael Kennedy (born August 16, 1950) is a photographer living and working in New Mexico. His career spans more than 35 years and includes an 18-year stint in New York City where he was known as a specialist in photography for the advertising and music industries, producing album covers and editorial spreads for artists that include Muddy Waters, Bruce Springsteen, Blondie and Bob Dylan. Although he has won numerous awards for his photography, he stated in early 2010 that he had not entered competitions since 1992.
In 1983 Kennedy photographed the cover of the Loverboy album Get Lucky, the cover depicts the posterior of someone wearing tight red leather pants, with a man's arm and hand in the foreground with index and middle finger crossed. The model wearing the leather pants was Kennedy's 13-year-old daughter, Tymara Kennedy. The photo credit on the album stated "Bottom by: T.K.", which was sometimes interpreted as the publishing shorthand for the term to come.
In 1986 Kennedy moved to northern New Mexico and began documenting the Western landscape and Native American culture, and became involved in Native American causes. His photographs of Native Americans and their culture have been exhibited in Westchester. William Zimmer writes that "the respectful Indian pictures bring to light aspects of [Native American] culture that are often hidden".
His work is in The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery