Re: [Leica] Kennedy Photographer

[Dan Cardish <dcardish@microtec.net>]

Elliott Erwitt?

Dan C.

At 11:47 PM 05-11-98 -0800, you wrote:
>I'm new to the list.  I wonder if I might ask a non-technical question...
>
>During the Kennedy administration, a young photographer gained a
>reputation for taking some great shots of the president and his family.
>One that struck me then - and still impresses me - is that he used a
>Leica rangefinder camera and was said to have credited his ability to
>get in close and take shots with such feeling to the silent shutter and
>fast lens.  He apparently gained somewhat of a reputation as a trusted
>"behind the scenes" observer who was admitted to the inner sanctum
>of the working White House and had the rare privilege of attending a
>higher level of meetings and appointments than anyone before or since.
>His work set a standard that has had a lasting effect on me, both as a
>photographer and as a witness to the human drama.
>
>The only problem is that I can't remember the gentleman's name.  I
>have posed this question on other forums and have received numerous
>responses.  Most seem to think that it was Kennerly or Duncan.  It
>might be, but the timing seems to be wrong.  This was before the
>escalation of the VN "conflict" and doesn't seem to fit the history of
>either of those famous chaps.  I have it in my mind that this person
>was in his very early twenties, which would put him in his late fifties
>now.  I have a couple of mental images of this person, dressed in jeans
>and a sport coat, drifting in and out of the scene like a puff of smoke,
>never far from the president, never missing the opportunity to record
>the human side of history.
>
>Could someone help me with this search.  If it was Kennerly or Duncan,
>I would like to have some sort of chronology as to how the presence in
>the White House fit into the overall timing of their careers.  If it wasn't
>either of them, who was it?
>
>If you think this is too far off topic, please feel free to e-mail me
directly
>at wcassing@elkgrove.net. Thank you
>
>
>