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Lot 80
[Gemini IV] FIRST U.S. SPACE WALK: Ed White floating in space with the spacecraft reflected in his gold-plated visor James McDivitt, 3-7 June 1965
14 – 28 April 2025, 12:00 CEST
Paris, Avenue HocheSold for €1,408 inc. premium
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[Gemini IV] FIRST U.S. SPACE WALK: Ed White floating in space with the spacecraft reflected in his gold-plated visor
James McDivitt, 3-7 June 1965
Printed 1965.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image S-65-30429].
Numbered "NASA S-65-30429" in red in the top margin, with NASA caption and "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
A glorious close-up photograph of the first American EVA, perfectly framed by James McDivitt, who asked Ed White for the pose: "Ed, smile. Let me take a close-up picture of you." White is seen floating freely above the vivid blue Earth, directly over Texas. Reflected in his visor are the black expanse of space and the spacecraft's window through which McDivitt captured this iconic image.
This photograph was chosen as the cover of the landmark publication The View from Space by photography historians Ron Schick and Julia Van Haaften.
Printed 1965.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image S-65-30429].
Numbered "NASA S-65-30429" in red in the top margin, with NASA caption and "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
A glorious close-up photograph of the first American EVA, perfectly framed by James McDivitt, who asked Ed White for the pose: "Ed, smile. Let me take a close-up picture of you." White is seen floating freely above the vivid blue Earth, directly over Texas. Reflected in his visor are the black expanse of space and the spacecraft's window through which McDivitt captured this iconic image.
This photograph was chosen as the cover of the landmark publication The View from Space by photography historians Ron Schick and Julia Van Haaften.
Footnotes
"When I saw these photographs for the first time I couldn't believe it. I thought of Buck Rogers. It was scary to look at that stuff in the dark room with the lights out. When you saw those pictures gleaming up from a light table it gave you goose bumps."
—Les Gaver, former photography director, Public Affairs, NASA (Schick and Van Haaften, p. 34)
From the mission transcript when the photograph was taken:
004:42:19 McDivitt: Ed, smile.
004:42:26 White: I'm looking right down your gun barrel. All.
004:42:28 McDivitt: Let me take a closeup picture of you.
004:42:30 White: Okay. Just a minute.
004:42:31 McDivitt: You smeared up my windshield, you dirty dog!
004:42:34 White: Did I really?
004:42:35 McDivitt: Yes.
004:42:37 White: Well, hand me out a Kleenex and I'll clean it.
004:42:40 McDivitt: Ha! See how it's all smeared up there?
004:42:44 White: Yes.
004:42:45 McDivitt: It looks like there is a coating on the outside and you've rubbed it off.
Literature
LIFE, 18 June 1965, cover
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, September 1965, pp. 444-445
The View from Space: American Astronaut Photography 1962-1972, Schick and Van Haaften, cover and p. 35
Chaikin, Space: a history of space exploration through photographs, p. 59
Full Moon, Light, plate 13
Watch more
CLICK HERE: Gemini 4 | NASAs First Ever Space Walk - Narrated By Ed White
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