International Center for Journalists – ICFJ's Presidential Collection
Auction Ends: Nov 11, 2012 12:00 AM EST

Art

Five Presidents, Simi Valley, California, 1991 (limited edition, framed photo)

Item Number
103
Estimated Value
2000 USD
Sold
1500 USD to Live Event Bidder
Number of Bids
1  -  Bid History

Live Event Item

After the online close, this item went to a Live Event for further bidding. Absentee Bidding offered.

Item Description

On assignment for Time magazine, David Hume Kennerly captured a rare moment in history: Five U.S. presidents gathered together for the opening of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Says Kennerly, “This was the first time that five presidents had been together at the same place and time, and this has only happened four other times since.” Kennerly has been there to document each occasion.

To Kennerly, this photograph was also a retrospective on his career as a political photographer. “What I was seeing at that time were the five chief executives I had covered,” says Kennerly. From the right, they stood in the order in which they were in office, starting with Richard Nixon and ending with George H.W. Bush, the incumbent president. In an effort to replicate Mount Rushmore, Kennerly decided to photograph the presidents in profile. When President Reagan looked towards him, he knew he had his shot.

This famous image is one of Kennerly’s most widely published photos. 

Item Special Note

This framed photo is signed and numbered by Kennerly. It is a 16" by 20" archival pigment print on Hahnemühle Fine Art Baryta paper.