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Ken Griffey Jr. Explains How He Became a Photographer at This Year's Masters

Griffey is capturing the chase for a green jacket at Augusta National this weekend.

Blake Silverman

Griffey Jr. photographs on the second hole during the second round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
Griffey Jr. photographs on the second hole during the second round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. / Michael Madrid-Imagn Images

Ken Griffey Jr.'s surprise presence at this year's Masters as a photographer is inspiring. The 55-year-old who eclipsed baseball's precipice is still learning on the job, which he admits.

Griffey took up photography as a second career years ago following his Hall of Fame baseball career. He's been credited for shooting MLB, NFL and MLS games, as well as IndyCar events. He recently shot the MLB Tokyo Series in Japan, which began the new baseball season. He has plenty of experience behind the lens, but he acknowledged capturing the chase for the green jacket is a new challenge.

“Realistically, I’m the low man on the totem pole,” Griffey said Saturday in a conversation with GOLF.com's James Colgan. “I’m still picking it up. If you’re not willing to learn then your pictures aren’t going to get any better.”

Colgan found out why Griffey picked up a camera in the first place—The Kid wanted to ensure he was able to pay attention to his children's sporting events without distractions from other patrons. From there, the Hall of Famer fell in love with the art of photography itself.

He ended up with a press pass at Augusta after one of his friends learned he picked up golf. The friend had a connection to the Masters and reached out, which led to an offer for Griffey to shoot photos of the tournament for Masters.com.

Colgan's story on GOLF.com explained that The Kid isn't treated differently than any other photographer at Augusta National—at his request, of course. He's there to get the best shot possible and work on perfecting his second craft. And he's doing a great job.

Griffey's presence at golf's finest tournament proves that no matter the circumstance, there's always room to learn new things.

“I mean, I’ve been this way since I was a little kid,” he said via GOLF.com. “I learned how to fly a plane. I got my pilot’s license at age 36. I learned to scuba at age 30. You owe it to yourself to go out and find something you love, and you have to be willing to start somewhere.”

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Blake Silverman
BLAKE SILVERMAN

Blake Silverman is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in November 2024, he covered the WNBA, NBA, G League and college basketball for numerous sites, including Winsidr, SB Nation's Detroit Bad Boys and A10Talk. He graduated from Michigan State University before receiving a master's in sports journalism from St. Bonaventure University. Outside of work, he's probably binging the latest Netflix documentary, at a yoga studio or enjoying everything Detroit sports. A lifelong Michigander, he lives in suburban Detroit with his wife, young son and their personal petting zoo of two cats and a dog.

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