Image of a camera misfire

Object number1989.100.0043.0017

Date11/23/1963

ClassificationsPhotographs

Photographer Dallas Times Herald photographer

ObjectNegative (b&w)

Credit LineDallas TImes Herald Collection / The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza

MediumFilm

Dimensions15/16 x 1 7/16 in. (2.4 x 3.6 cm)

Terms

Collections

DescriptionOriginal 35mm black and white negative taken by an unidentified Dallas Times Herald staff photographer. The image is a camera misfire. The figures of reporters and Dallas Police Captain J.W. 'Will' Fritz are barely visible, standing in front of the door to the Homicide and Robbery Bureau at the Dallas Police Department. Photographers would sometimes snap a photo of nothing in particular just to make sure that the film was advancing through the camera properly. It is not known whether this misfire was deliberate or accidental.

Curatorial Commentary

Pictures are overexposed when too much light enters the aperture, producing images that are washed out and lacking detail. Most of the images on this strip appear overly bright because they were overexposed. When Museum staff scanned this negative strip in 2012, they used photo editing software to try to correct the overexposure, allowing us to see some detail in the images that was not visible before. - Lindsey Richardson, Curator of Collections