Image of local press photographers in press car during motorcade on Main Street
Object number1989.100.0011.0012
Date11/22/1963
ClassificationsPhotographs
Photographer
Bill Beal
ObjectNegative (b&w)
Credit LineBill Beal, photographer, Dallas Times Herald Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumFilm
Dimensions15/16 x 1 7/16 in. (2.4 x 3.6 cm)
DescriptionOriginal 35mm black and white negative taken by Dallas Times Herald staff photographer Bill Beal. This image shows Bob Jackson, a Dallas Times Herald staff photographer, and Jimmy Darnell, a WBAP photographer, in the back of a press car during the presidential motorcade on Main Street. The press car was about eight cars behind President Kennedy's in the motorcade. The image was taken from a balcony at the Adolphus Hotel.
Curatorial CommentaryRiding directly in front of Bob Jackson, wearing a trench coat and turned towards the camera, is Dallas Morning News chief photographer Tom Dillard. Like Bob Jackson, Dillard covered the president's arrival at Dallas Love Field, rode in the motorcade, and later photographed scenes at Parkland Memorial Hospital. - Stephen Fagin, Curator
Riding to Bob Jackson's left is WBAP-TV photographer Jimmy Darnell. Unlike the other TV photographers in the motorcade, Darnell used a sound camera, which required extra, and rather bulky, equipment. Unfortunately, none of the scenes he filmed from the motorcade included a sound track, for it was easier and more efficient to shoot silent. Except for interviews, sound was not nearly as important for news coverage in those days as it today. - Gary Mack, Curator
From February 2009 to October 2010 The Sixth Floor Museum presented a temporary exhibit titled "A Photographer's Story: Bob Jackson and the Kennedy Assassination." The exhibit featured the work of Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Bob Jackson, pictured here, and included this photo of the Dallas Times Herald staffer at work the day of the president's visit to Dallas. You can learn more about that exhibit on the exhibits page of the Museum's website. - Lindsey Richardson, Curator of Collections
