How Photographer Stanley Tretick Captured Kennedy’s Camelot

For many in my parents’ generation, the half century between now and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November 1963 seems like the blink of an eye. The Kennedys and the “Camelot” myth surrounding them raise such powerful visual memories—the vital young leader with a beautiful family cut down in front of the public eye—make it almost impossible to clear away pictures in your mind’s eye. Photographer Stanley Tretick took many of the iconic images of the Kennedy clan from the early days of JFK’s 1960 presidential campaign all the way through RFK’s 1968 presidential bid and its tragic end. Capturing Camelot: Stanley Tretick’s Iconic Images of The Kennedys beautifully recaptures that “brief shining moment” with Tretick’s photography celebrated with text by Kitty Kelley, a close friend of Tretick’s, who passed away in 1999. In a year sure to include its share of memorials, Capturing Camelot strikes all the right notes in showing the humanity behind the hype through Tretick’s lens. Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "HowPhotographer Stanley Tretick Captured Kennedy’s Camelot."

[Image: Stanley Tretick. President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy, returning to the White House after escorting President Habib Bourguiba of Tunisia to Blair House. Washington, DC. May 3, 1961. A rare public intimate moment. © The Estate of Stanley Tretick.]