David Hume Kennerly began his professional career in 1966 as a photographer for the . After joining United Press International in 1967, Kennerly worked in Los Angeles (1967-1968), New York (1968-1969), and Washington, D.C. (1969-1970). In 1971, UPI sent Kennerly to South Vietnam, where in 1972 he won a Pulitzer Prize for his feature photography of the Vietnam War. Kennerly also received the Wilson Hicks Award for excellence in reporting with a camera, first prize in the World Press Photo Contest for his coverage of Cambodia, and the Overseas Press Club's Olivier Rebbot Award for his inside story of the Reagan/Gorbachev Summit in Geneva.

From 1972 until 1974, Kennerly worked as a contract photographer for magazine. In August 1974, President Gerald R. Ford invited Kennerly to serve as his personal photographer. As later reported, the Pulitzer Prize winner accepted the job only on the condition that he have "the freedom to walk in and out of the President's office at will to take whatever pictures he felt were part of history." As a result, Kennerly's pictures from his three years in the White House have an immediacy rarely matched by the work of previous official presidential photographers.

From the 1970s through the 1990s Kennerly worked as a photographer for (1973-1974, 1977-1990), (1972, 1993-1996), and (1996-1999) magazines, and as a writer and television producer/director. his autobiography, was published in 1979, followed by (1995) and (2002). The Center for American History has presented photographic exhibitions based on the latter two publications. Kennerly's television productions include (1987) and (1988), the latter the recipient of an Emmy award nomination. He is currently a contributing editor to magazine.