This Polaroid photo was taken a sixth of a second after a rifle bullet ended John F. Kennedy’s life. Apart from Abraham Zapruder’s movie, it’s the best photographic evidence from the scene in Dealey Plaza.
11/22/63, just after 12:30 p.m. (Click to enlarge.)
On November 22, 1963, Mary Moorman was standing at the edge of the grassy knoll, near the curb, with her friend Jean Hill. They can be seen in the Zapruder film (Jean is in a red coat, which stands out against the green grass). Mary is holding her Polaroid camera, Model 80A. Those cameras used rollfilm, which you couldn’t shoot in series quickly: You had to wait for each print to process before pulling the next tab, and that took ten seconds or so. Moorman thus had one chance to catch the presidential limousine as it passed, and she did not miss her moment.
There’s another copy of this image on Wikipedia, and it looks different. A few minutes spent visiting Kennedy-assassination Websites (and let me tell you, that’s an eye-opening few minutes) tell me that it’s probably from a copy made by a policeman that was eventually copied again, cropped, and sent out via the Associated Press. The original is sharper, though a big fingerprint has degraded the image. The print may have been imperfectly coated when new, which shouldn’t surprise anyone. The people on the scene may have been a little distracted.
Moorman has said that she shot another photo a little earlier, showing the sixth-floor window of the Texas School Book Depository, and thus the assassin himself (or not, depending on your beliefs). She says she gave it to a law-enforcement officer at the scene, and that it subsequently disappeared.
As of 2020, Moorman still lives in Dallas, and reportedly still has her original print, despite a report (on Wikipedia and elsewhere) that she sold it in 2008 for $175,000.
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9 Responses to Instant Moment: Dallas, 1963
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[…] She snapped a photo approximately one-sixth of a second after a bullet struck the president. You can see Jacqueline Kennedy in her Chanel suit and pillbox hat, turning towards the president, who seems to be slumping. Other than that, it’s not clear what’s going on. The general murkiness may help explain why the photo is beloved by conspiracy theorists, some of whom believe that it shows a second gunman who’s been nicknamed “badge man.” […]
[…] written before about Mary Moorman’s Polaroid picture of the Kennedy assassination, and today Time’s Harry McCracken—a man who, judging by this post from a couple of years […]
The fingerprint on the above posted copy of the Moorman photo happened during one of the 2 (or 3?) times that the FBI had custody of the original. When the FBI returned it to Ms. Moorman, the fingerprint was there. It was NOT there BEFORE the FBI took custody of it. This is according to Ms. Moorman herself, as stated during the first full public interview of her (which you can watch on iantiques.com). She states that she would like to know which FBI agent screwed up her picture so that she can know who to be angry with. But my question is: HOW did the fingerprint get there, and WHY? The FBI did not provide Moorman with an explanation. This was all after the “badge man” issue was raised, when the FBI took custody of the photo for the 2nd or 3rd time, returning it with the fingerprint. The first time the polaroid was printed in the newspaper was an hour or so after the photo was actually taken. This is why you’ll see some pretty clear copies of the pic as compared to later pics that are less clear. (Per Moorman’s statements).
At least one clear copy of Mary Moorman’s famous photograph of the Kennedy assassination was made prior to the fingerprint or thumb print appearing on it after 11/22/63. In some cases the news agencies may have retouched the photo but the original was marked as evidence in the Sheriff’s press office in Dallas on 11/22/63. It was returned to Mrs. Moorman that evening. Later the FBI and other federal agencies requested the photo from Mrs. Moorman to copy it as evidence. Mrs. Moorman always complied. That’s when the fingerprint appeared on its return to her.
— S. Jaffe, former assistant to DA Jim Garrison
Yeah, that’s probably because the FBI and other agencies were trying to hide the 2 men with rifles in the pergola, directly behind Zapruder. How in the heck all of you people could have missed that for over 50 years just blows my mind. I mean c’mon man. Take as magnify glass to the photo. There’s a frigging rifle clear as day sticking out of the pergola window, with a gunmans face. lol
UNDOCTORED MOORMAN PHOTO SHOWS TRIANGLE OF EXPLOSION ABOVE FOREHEAD DUE TO SHOT FROM THE FRONT. OTHER COPIES DOT SHOW EXPLOSION. FOUND IN BOOK: ASSASSINATION THE DEATH OF PRESIDENT JOHN F KENNEDY BY RELMAN MORIN FROM 1968.
DENNIS A. DAROVICH, CPCU, AIS
What everybody has missed for over 50 years is the 2 gunmen in the pergola. I believe Mary Moorman saw them and just kept her mouth shut. How everybody could miss that is amazing to me. Think of all the people who have analyzed that photo and were still dumb enough to think it was Oswald. lol just wow
The undoctored Mary Moorman copy of the original is found in the 1968 paperback book titled: ASSASINATION THE DEATH OF PRESIDENT JOHN F KENNEDY by RELMAN MORIN. It shows an explosive impact of the frontal bullet above the forehead of JFK as a white triangle pointing to the grassy knoll. All copies which now appear have this triangle removed. I shared this with Bob Groden, Dr. Cyrill Wecht, and Steve Jaffe in the past. Proof of a frontal shot to JFK.
DENNIS A. DAROVICH, CPCU, AIS
The killshot to JFK’s right temple was from JG inside
Shelter #3, 3 rows up from the grass !! The left-
handed shooter struck Connaly one second later !!
Two shooters were within 15 feet of Zapruder’s
position next to his secretary while filming just
east of the pergola or shelter !!