All images © Mark Kettenhofen

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TO SEE A GALLERY OF MARK KETTENHOFEN'S IMAGES, CLICK HERE

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Images from the Industry is a feature in which we explore the work and photography of an individual who's employed in a photo-related industry. We're always looking for subjects—contact us at editor@photoworkshop if you know someone who's a good candidate.

Top of the World

Recently, I was assigned to interview Mark Kettenhofen, a photographer who is well-known in the industry for a variety of photographic directions: Coverage of military situations, images of nature around the world, sports events, and his work with Nikon, Inc. I was fascinated by the individual histories of his involvement in so many different directions in the field of photography. His energy in accomplishing them all is inspirational.

Robert Schaefer: Tell me about your background. Were you involved in photography as a child?

Mark Kettenhofen: I was born in Oneida, New York and raised in Verona, a small town in central New York that instilled that “small-town personality” in me. My dad supported my dream of becoming a photographer and bought me my first camera—an Argus rangefinder.  After processing my first roll of film when I was 13 years old, I was hooked.  I was one the youngest staff photographers for my high school newspaper when I began working with them, and eventually became the chief photographer for both the newspaper and the year book.

RS: Where did you study photography?  Have any photographers or other artists influenced your work?  

MK: I took several basic classes in high school.  Then I joined the Navy and attended the U.S. Naval Photography School in Pensacola, Florida, where I later completed an intermediate photojournalism course.  That laid the groundwork for my goal of attending the Syracuse University Photojournalism Program, from which I graduated in 1987. After that, I got orders to join the Combat Camera Group in the Atlantic.
 
Many photographers have influenced my work.  I have always enjoyed Philippe Halsman’s portrait style.  His images are sometimes whimsical and sometimes serious, but there is a style there that is always uniquely “Halsman.”  Later on in my career Eddie Adams influenced me.  He and I became dear friends in the late 1990s, and since then, I have had the honor to help run his world-renowned photojournalism workshop.

RS: You were a U.S. Navy photojournalist for 20 years, documenting world events in more than 27 countries.  What impact has that had on your work?  Did you do any documentation in Vietnam or Iraq? How did you feel about that?

MK: Well, I think it would be difficult to have seen the things I have seen and to experience these events and places without its impacting my work.  Covering conflicts in Panama, The Gulf War in Iraq, and the terrible situation

Sherpa Boy

of the Haitian refugees in 1992, I have documented human suffering in some of its worst examples.  This work made me really appreciate life, my own experiences and has allowed me to truly live life to its fullest.  Conversely, I have documented some of the most beautiful places on earth, such as various locations in Iceland and the United States, and this has given me the ability to truly appreciate the special and meaningful moments in life.

RS: How did you become involved with Nikon Professional Services? What have been some of the most memorable shots you have done for them?

MK: I retired from the Navy in 2000 and realized that I had spent 20 years defending a country that I had barely experienced.  At that point in time, I had seen more countries than I had seen states, and had experienced more of the world than my own back yard.  So I chose to change that by riding my bicycle across the United States over a three-month period, unsupported with just one friend.  I approached Bill Pekala, General Manager of Nikon Professional Services (NPS), and asked for some gear support to document the project.  At the end of the project, I returned the photo equipment and the next thing I knew, he was interviewing me for a position with NPS.  For over six years, I have been working for Nikon and have had the pleasure of working with our amazing staff.  They are all very talented people, and we are fortunate enough to get these amazing assignments.  Although I have had several great experiences, I will have to say the expedition to Everest Base Camp was the most memorable.  I took this trip with Jim Whitaker, the first American to reach the summit of Mount Everest.  The expedition celebrated the 40th Anniversary of that amazing feat.  Another memorable assignment was the trip to the Galapagos Islands for the American Photo Mentor Series.

RS: Certainly you were working in photography long before the digital age.  How has it affected your work?  Do you feel this has been positive?

Million Man Moment

MK: I have worked with film continuously to this point. The use of film has obviously been reduced drastically, but I still enjoy shooting with film-based cameras. Shooting digitally has made a difference in my work in several ways, and it has been positive on most levels.  I feel that the only negative part of digital shooting is that when photographers used to shoot film, they where able to pass the film along to someone else to process.  However, in the digital age, a working photographer has to do pretty much all of it and give practically a final product to an art director or editor for editing.  At the same time, this has given us much more creative control of our images, so it is a give-and-take situation.

RS: What equipment do you currently use?  Very little of your work on the websites I have seen is black-and-white.  Has this changed over the years?  Is it a result of digital photography?

MK: My first love is and always will be black-and-white photography.  The simplicity that it gives to the image is pure.  As a matter of fact, I am experimenting with the conversion of several Nikon D200 cameras to infrared.  I feel sometimes black-and-white or infrared allows the reader to take away the distraction of all elements other than the content of the picture.  However, the nature of photography and the way images are recorded has always been changing, and that is exciting.  Imagine what Matthew Brady would think if he could be transported to the present time and the current capture images in comparison to his photographers working out of horse drawn wagons full of glass plates and life threatening chemicals.  That is what I love about this art called photography. Sure, the technology changes, but no matter where the technical aspect pushes the art, the passion never changes.  Good photography is still good photography no matter which medium it is recorded on.

RS: What have been some of the most important and memorable aspects of your career in photography?

MK: One of my most important memories is the day my father gave me my first camera because it made me aware of his support for me.  That was important.  However, my most memorable moment in the field was when I was selected NPPA Military Photographer of the year.

RS: Do you feel that your commercial work interferes with your personal imagery?

Sands of Time

MK: No, I feel it infuses it.  I love all aspects of photography. Personal imagery is just that—personal.  I chose certain projects because I loved the idea of that project.  My work for Nikon many times parallels my personal passions in photography.

RS: You are a member of the American Photo Mentor Series. What does that entail?
 
MK: I was honored to be selected to be a member of the American Photo Mentor Series.  I joined world-renowned nature photographer Bob Krist for several weeks with Lindblad Expeditions.  We each teamed up with a naturalist and about 12 students each. Our days were spent exploring/photographing the Galapagos Islands and then critiquing everyone’s images at night.  It was an amazing experience.

RS: What does the future hold for you and your photography?

MK: I am very exited about my next project.  I am teaming up with Bill Fortney, friend, photographer and author of a coffee table book project called America From 500 Feet II: The Re-discovering America Project. It is a follow- up to Fortney’s first book, America From 500 Feet, which went on to become the most successful American aerial landscape book in history. We will spend 14 months traveling around the United States photographing our beautiful country from powered parachutes that we will pilot.  It used to take days to travel to remote parts of this country.  Today, with a modern highway system, the long trip can be made in three and one half hours.  One still passes “near” many of the same places, however, but only close by. At over 70 miles-per-hour, much is missed.  A lot of what is best about us and the U.S. lies just a little off the beaten path. This book is about rediscovering America to appreciate it and understand it better.  The book release is planned for November of 2008.  Our website is http://www.Americafrom500feet2.com.

RS: Good luck with the book; I look forward to seeing it.

For more information on Nikon, visit http://www.nikonusa.com.

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TO SEE A GALLERY OF MARK KETTENHOFEN'S IMAGES, CLICK HERE

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Robert A. Schaefer, Jr. is a founding member of Photoworkshop.com, and has been a fine-art photographer for over 30 years. His work is displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York as well as the Bibliothéque Nationale in Paris, France. In 1999—2000 he had a 25-year retrospective of his work at the Huntsville Museum of Art in Huntsville, Alabama, his home state. His exhibition, Two Sides of the Coin—which deals with his German family and the Holocaust—was held at the DeFrog Gallery in Houston, TX in March, April and May as a part of Fotofest. Two images from this exhibition were recently purchased by the Houston Museum of Fine Arts.  He is currently working on a documentary film about this project and was just asked to have a one-person exhibition (Nov. 10, 2007 to January 8, 2008) at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts in Montgomery, AL—his home state—in 2007.  Jim Kempner of Kempner Fine Art in Manhattan recently selected one of Schaefer’s cyanotypes to be in the NYU Small Works Exhibition, which opens on February 8th at a gallery on Washington Square Park.  Schaefer writes about photography for Double Exposure, Fotophile Magazine in New York City and The Photo Review in Pennsylvania. He has taught at The New School and given workshops at Pratt Institute in New York and is currently on the faculty at New York University.

Email: rasjrpro@earthlink.net
Website: http://www.schaeferphoto.com

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