Today we’d like to introduce you to Kyle Kenehan.
Kyle, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
The origin of my love for photography is Barry Fitzsimmons, my maternal uncle. Having been a professional newspaper photographer for a great deal of his life, Uncle Barry worked for numerous print news publications throughout the United States, even being nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for his work. I was in awe all the times I would visit his house, a picture of a relaxed Ray Charles leaning back in his chair taking a quick break from his game of chess hung prominently on the wall in the dining room or a photograph of a stampede of horses running down the track in Del Mar.
Having been diagnosed with Congenital Kidney Disease when I was very young, maybe 7 or 8, caused by a birth defect where my kidneys were very small and malformed, made worse by reflux, or the passage of urine back up into the kidney after filling up the bladder, I received a Kidney Transplant, from my father, on November 10th 1999. I was ten years old and about to go to Middle School. Five years later, in High School, my Marine Science teacher, Mr. Dorr, took his students on excursions to the beach to snorkel and swim with the sea life.
On these Field Trips, he often encouraged us to bring underwater sports cameras to take pictures. This I did, and immediately fell in love with the medium. The idea that I could dive beneath the waves and come up with pictures amazed me. I spent as much free time in three of my four years in High School learning underwater photography, or just photography, from Mr. Dorr. In 2007, my Senior year of High School, My Make-A-Wish was granted and I received an underwater Photography system – My first real camera!
After High School, my passion for Underwater Photography remained but the practice was left neglected. Having started my College education in pursuit of a Marine science degree, I switched to Journalism to focus my life’s career path more towards photography than the ocean. At this time, I lost my first kidney and received my second transplant from my mother in 2011. I began shooting for the Mesa Press, San Diego Mesa College’s student run newspaper. I found success here, winning awards for my work and switching gears towards more event-based photography i.e. Action, sports, etc.
My friend Danielle from the newspaper gig was into reporting music-based content and encouraged me to check out and try photographing a concert. I shot my first concert in 2013, a band called RX Bandits at the House of Blues in downtown San Diego. I’ve shot lots of concerts since then, and have begun shooting promotional shots for touring bands, including the press images used for and on the debut album In Humour and Sadness by former The Chariot’s frontman Josh Scogin’s Atlanta based duo, ’68.
Shortly after my shoot with ’68, I fell ill with fungal meningitis. I battled this new illness in two different local hospitals over a four-month period, a roller coaster ride for my friends and family. I lost my kidney transplant in this, and am currently and continue to do Hemodialysis, an inconvenient replacement for a kidney, but an alternative to death nonetheless. I continue to strive and work to accomplish my dreams within photography and continue to shoot live concert events as well as posed bands. My resume lists a who’s who of metal and hard rock bands I have worked with including mewithoutYou, Veil of Maya, Jonny Craig, and Dayshell.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My health has been the biggest struggle and obstacle in pursuing my dreams and ambitions within the photography community. Having been born with Kidney Disease, I’ve endured two Kidney Transplants, the first being in 1999 when I was ten years old. After eleven years, I lost that transplant and received my second from my mother on May 27, 2011. In 2014, I was hospitalized with Fungal Meningitis, a deadly disease that kept my family and I on a roller coaster ride for Four months.
In that time, at my lowest, I was on Life Support taking a breath maybe once every minute and at my highest eating a few bites of my breakfast. The doctors made a collective decision to let my body reject my current transplant in order to build up my body’s natural immune system to fight the fungal infection. This, with a very powerful antifungal medication, got me out of the hospital and on the way to recovery.
I am currently on Hemodialysis, unsure if I will ever get another transplant. Kidney disease drains its victims of energy and time which make photoshoots and all the work involved so much more difficult but still, I work hard to accomplish as much as I can. I am looking forward to working as a photographer at South by Southwest, a Music and Arts Festival in Austin Texas in March as well as what other bands I will have the opportunity to work within 2018.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Kyle Kenehan Photography – what should we know?
Kyle Kenehan Photography has been built from the ground upon the foundation of my passion for photography. We specialize in Music Photography, from live music events and concerts to posed band promotional imagery. I have even shot some cover artwork, for a band called Cloudside (Check out their most recent release, IOLA!).
I think I am most proud of my work on the ’68 album In Humour and Sadness’ press imagery, where my images of the band have appeared everywhere from the back cover of the album itself to a t-shirt sold by the band’s record label to a Belgian website plus it established a working relationship with my friend Carl over at Good Fight Entertainment.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Easy to work with comes to mind. In the Music Industry, everyone is pretty tight-knit. Everyone knows everyone else. So if you’re difficult to work with or unprofessional or disrespectful with a music industry professional, that will spread pretty quickly. At the same time, don’t undersell yourself. Be able to assert your prices for your services but be willing to negotiate with a band’s budget.
Remember: They are people too that need to make a living, especially if its a pretty successful band, then there are a few people behind the scenes that need to be paid as well. I remember when I shot the ’68 press shots, I charged their manager, Carl, X amount, just cuz I wanted them to buy them and use them. This was my first major photo shoot, and they’re interested? I was completely underselling myself, and I think Carl knew that. He offered to pay twice as much, and I will always respect him for helping out a young inexperienced photographer.
Pricing:
- $200 Posed Promotional band Photoshoot
Contact Info:
- Website: kylekenehanphoto.tumblr.com
- Phone: 8583822191
- Email: kyle.kenehan@hotmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/maddog_photog
- Facebook: facebook.com/KyleKenehanPhotography
Image Credit:
Josh Sims, Kyle Kenehan
Getting in touch: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
