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| Photo: Michael Reaves / Staff / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images |
Retirement isn’t for everyone, as is apparently the case for baseball Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Junior. Most recently, he’s been in the spotlight for being at the Masters this week as a credentialed photographer for Masters.com. Getty Images photographer Ben Jared captured Griffey on the course with what looks to be either the Sony 400mm or 600mm lens attached to his camera.
Behind the lens 📸@MLB Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. is working as a credentialed photographer for the first time @TheMasters pic.twitter.com/NjQqBDSCJF
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 10, 2025
Griffey Jr. retired from baseball in 2010 as a 13-time MLB All-Star. He spent most of his career playing for the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds, though he also had a short stint with the Chicago White Sox. He picked up a camera in 2015 and has been photographing ever since.
Griffey Jr. originally got into photography not only because of his love for sports, as he explained on Mornings at the Masters. As a celebrity, no matter where he goes, he’s sure to garner attention. That attention got in the way of him watching his kids’ games, and he was frequently distracted. So, photography became a way for him to avoid all the attention. “My daughter literally stopped dribbling a basketball and just looked at me when she was five. I was like okay, I’ve got to pay more attention to what’s going on,” Griffey said. “I figured no one’s messing with the photographer, well let me pick it up, let me try it.”
While this is the first time Griffey has photographed the Masters, his photography has taken him to plenty of events. He’s worked as a credentialed photographer at MLB, MLS, NFL, NASCAR and IndyCar events. The Masters go on through the weekend, and Griffey Jr. will be there through the end, capturing the event up to the big finale with the iconic green jacket.
Griffey isn’t the only former MLB player – or player for the Seattle Mariners, for that matter – to turn to photography, either. Former pitcher Randy Johnson, who played 22 seasons in the MLB, nearly a decade of which was for the Mariners, is also a photographer. Johnson studied photojournalism at the University of Southern California before going pro, when photography went on the back burner, naturally. He has photographed NFL games, concerts and lots of wildlife. His logo – a dead bird – references a famous moment in his baseball career when one of his pitches killed a bird after it flew into the path of the ball.
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This article comes from DP Review and can be read on the original site.
