Dominique Ciccolella
Sale Coordinator and Expert Liaison
This auction has ended. View lot details
You may also be interested in
![[Apollo 7] SPACE PORTRAIT: Walter Cunningham gazing at Earth aboard the first Apollo spacecraft Walter Schirra or Donn Eisele, 11-22 October 1968 image 1](/_next/image.jpg?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg1.bonhams.com%2Fimage%3Fsrc%3DImages%2Flive%2F2025-03%2F24%2F25639331-126-1.jpg&w=2400&q=75)
![[Apollo 7] SPACE PORTRAIT: Walter Cunningham gazing at Earth aboard the first Apollo spacecraft Walter Schirra or Donn Eisele, 11-22 October 1968 image 2](/_next/image.jpg?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg1.bonhams.com%2Fimage%3Fsrc%3DImages%2Flive%2F2025-03%2F24%2F25639331-126-2.jpg&w=2400&q=75)
Lot 151
[Apollo 7] SPACE PORTRAIT: Walter Cunningham gazing at Earth aboard the first Apollo spacecraft Walter Schirra or Donn Eisele, 11-22 October 1968
14 – 28 April 2025, 12:00 CEST
Paris, Avenue Hoche€600 - €800
Looking for a similar item?
Our Post-War and Contemporary Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialistAsk about this lot
Sabine Cornette de Saint Cyr
Head of Department
Chloe Mayot
Senior Cataloguer
Marion Richard
Specialist
[Apollo 7] SPACE PORTRAIT: Walter Cunningham gazing at Earth aboard the first Apollo spacecraft
Walter Schirra or Donn Eisele, 11-22 October 1968
Printed 1968.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image AS7-4-1559].
Numbered "NASA AS7-4-1559" in red in the top margin, with "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.)
Historical context
This striking portrait of Walter Cunningham symbolizes the dawn of human life beyond Earth.
Floating weightlessly inside the Apollo 7 Command Module, Cunningham is seen alongside a 16mm camera drifting freely—a visual testament to the new era of extended human presence in microgravity.
Apollo 7 marked a turning point for onboard space photography, thanks to the spaciousness of the Command Module, which allowed astronauts to move freely and frame their shots with greater precision. With the Hasselblad 500C, NASA's first modified space camera, Walter Schirra captured this evocative image on Kodak SO-368 film, pioneering techniques that would define the visual legacy of Apollo.
Printed 1968.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image AS7-4-1559].
Numbered "NASA AS7-4-1559" in red in the top margin, with "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.)
Historical context
This striking portrait of Walter Cunningham symbolizes the dawn of human life beyond Earth.
Floating weightlessly inside the Apollo 7 Command Module, Cunningham is seen alongside a 16mm camera drifting freely—a visual testament to the new era of extended human presence in microgravity.
Apollo 7 marked a turning point for onboard space photography, thanks to the spaciousness of the Command Module, which allowed astronauts to move freely and frame their shots with greater precision. With the Hasselblad 500C, NASA's first modified space camera, Walter Schirra captured this evocative image on Kodak SO-368 film, pioneering techniques that would define the visual legacy of Apollo.
Footnotes
Like modern Magellans, these astronauts learned to navigate in space. Here Walt Cunningham makes his observations through a spacecraft window. The tools of a space navigator included a sextant to sight on the stars, a gyroscopically stabilized platform to hold a constant reference in space, and a computer to link the data and make the most complex and precise calculations. (Apollo Expeditions to the Moon (NASA SP-350), Cortright, ed., p. 67)
Watch more
CLICK HERE: The Flight Of Apollo 7 (1968)
Additional information
Bid now on these items
