Photographs
Photographs
Auction Closed
April 5, 08:29 PM GMT
Estimate
15,000 - 25,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
HIRO
B. 1930
'APOLLO - 11, 9:32 A. M. 7-16-69 MAIDEN VOYAGE TO THE MOON'
dye-transfer print, flush-mounted to stretched canvas, framed, signed and editioned 'AP' in pencil, and with the photographer's title and copyright/reproduction rights stamps, dated in blue crayon, on the reverse, 1969, artist's proof in addition to the edition of 20
38 by 29¾ in. (96.5 by 75.6 cm)
Gift of the photographer, 1992
'One Giant Leap,' Harper's Bazaar, Vol. 102, Issue 3094, September 1969, p. 197
Richard Avedon, ed., Hiro: Photographs (Boston, 1999), unpaginated
When the lunar mission Apollo 11 launched from Cape Kennedy on 16 July 1969, the global space race was at a fever pitch. As a staff photographer at Harper’s Bazaar, HIRO originally pitched documenting the event for the magazine but, as there was no clear fashion angle, he ultimately conceived of this image as a personal project. In a later letter explaining the origins of the image, HIRO wrote, ‘As I planned how to execute this photograph, I came to the realization that there would be an enormous amount of worldwide publicity connected with this event and that I would have to approach this in a unique way in order to come up with original results. I came to the conclusion that to me, man’s voyage to the moon represented the culmination of human energy. In order to capture this energy I chose to use infrared film which records the presence of heat. As a result the photograph has an eerie quality, a surreal ambience. This is one of my favorite photographs of all time. . . I was finally able to convince Harper’s Bazaar to run the photograph as an editorial page.'
This year marks the 50th anniversary of this historic event.