Kennerly, David Hume. Shooter by David Hume Kennerly, Pulitzer Prize Winner.

Newsweek, 1979. Stated second edition. [Autobiography of the photographer who photographed the Vietnam War and the White House, and won the Pulitzer Prize at age 25.] Hardcover with protected dust jacket, like new, with evidence of price change on front inner flap of dust jacket. Summary:

Shooter (published in 1979 by Newsweek Books) is a fast-paced, 269-page autobiographical memoir and photographic retrospective by renowned American photojournalist David Hume Kennerly. Rather than a traditional, text-light photobook, this volume is an anecdotal, first-person narrative punctuated by 50 black-and-white plates that documents Kennerly's rapid ascent from a local newspaper clerk to a combat photographer and, ultimately, the personal photographer to the President of the United States.

Core Themes and Content

• The Reality of Combat and the Pulitzer Prize: A substantial portion of the memoir focuses on Kennerly’s time as the United Press International (UPI) bureau chief in Saigon during the Vietnam War. He details the raw psychological toll, constant physical danger, and adrenaline-fueled environment of combat photography, capturing what the Pulitzer board called "the loneliness and desolation of war" in the images that earned him the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography at just 25 years old.

• Behind the Lens at the White House: The narrative transitions into a rare, institutional look at the American presidency following his appointment as President Gerald R. Ford's personal photographer in 1974. Kennerly chronicles his close, informal relationship with the Ford family and discusses how he negotiated unprecedented, behind-the-scenes access to the West Wing, transforming White House photography from stiff, staged public relations into intimate, historic documentation.

• Witnessing the Tides of Global History: Beyond Washington and Vietnam, the memoir functions as a sweeping tour of major late-20th-century milestones. Kennerly recounts his experiences covering the final days before the fall of Saigon, the devastating aftermath of natural disasters, the chaotic floor of national political conventions, and historic global events like the 1971 "Fight of the Century" between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.

• The Philosophy and Drive of the Photojournalist: Interwoven throughout the historical anecdotes is Kennerly's personal philosophy on the visual medium. He writes candidly about the ethics of capturing human tragedy, the technical hustle required to beat wire service rivals, and the singular, obsessive drive of a dedicated "shooter" who is willing to risk safety to preserve a defining slice of history on a strip of film.

By fusing high-stakes political intrigue with the unvarnished grit of war correspondence, Shooter offers an enduring portrait of twentieth-century history through the eyes of a photographer who was consistently positioned on the front lines of global power and conflict.

David Hume Kennerly (born 1947) is a distinguished American photojournalist whose high-stakes imagery has captured the front lines of global conflict and the inner corridors of presidential power for over five decades. Born in Rosenburg, Oregon, Kennerly began his career at local Pacific Northwest newspapers before rising rapidly through the ranks of major wire services, eventually being sent to cover the Vietnam War as the Saigon bureau chief for United Press International (UPI). His raw, evocative coverage of the conflict earned him the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography at the age of just 25. Shortly thereafter, Kennerly made history by being appointed the official Chief White House Photographer for President Gerald R. Ford, where he negotiated unprecedented, behind-the-scenes access to the West Wing, establishing a new standard of intimate, unvarnished documentary coverage of the American presidency. Over his prolific career, Kennerly has photographed more than a dozen presidential campaigns, traveled to dozens of countries as a contributing photographer for Time and Newsweek, covered numerous wars, and directed several critically acclaimed documentary projects. He has authored several books, including his popular memoir Shooter, and was named one of the "100 Most Important People in Photography" by American Photo magazine. Today, Kennerly serves as a university professor, public speaker, and canon of historical documentation, with his monumental archive permanently housed at the University of Texas at Austin's Briscoe Center for American History.