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

Art

Nixon Final Farewell, Frame by Frame, White House, 1974 (limited edition, framed photo)

Item Number
123
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

Before digital cameras, the contact sheet was the raw material of photojournalism. This enlarged print of David Hume Kennerly’s sheet shows 20 images that he captured during Richard Nixon’s White House farewell, frame by frame, as it unfolded.

“The contact sheet is a great record of what happened there,” Kennerly said. “It’s really a unique piece.”

Shooting for Time magazine, Kennerly caught the famous Nixon “victory sign” image, but it’s not his favorite. “The crowd of White House staffers was yelling and applauding, trying to give Nixon a positive send-off,” Kennerly recalled. In response to their cheers, the departing president shifted into his more signature campaign-style wave. “Other photographers used images of the V-sign wave,” Kennerly said, “but that wasn’t the story.”

The last shots show Vice President Gerald Ford and Betty Ford saying their goodbyes. In an hour, Gerald Ford would take the oath of office to become the 38th president of the United States.

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.