Title from caption on object: “This Was Man’s First View of His Most Awesome Invention...”
July 16, 1945
Artist, American, 1911 - 2009
Publisher
Artwork overview
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Medium
gelatin silver print
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
image: 16.8 × 20.5 cm (6 5/8 × 8 1/16 in.)
sheet: 18.1 × 22.9 cm (7 1/8 × 9 in.) -
Accession
2018.177.385
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
(sale, Henry Yee, Ebay.com); Mary and Dan Solomon, Monarch Beach, CA; gift to NGA, 2018.
Associated Names
Inscriptions
across bottom printed in image: NY401-8/17-This was man's first view of his most awesome invention - the / explosion of the first atomic bomb July 16 at remote U.S. Army base at / Alamogordo, N. Mex., as seen by scientists and Army officials six miles / distant. The photo, made with automatic movie camera, shows the blinding / flash that lighted the area brighter than sunlight, with smoke billowing / up over wide area. Circle lower right is reflection on camera lens. USAPhot[o]; on verso, by unknown hand, upper center in graphite: atomic; center left in graphite: 3 col; center right Acme copyright stamp in green ink inverted; by unknown hand, lower left in graphite inverted: Bombs / Atomic Bombs