An historic picture of the New Frontier

Arnold Newman

1918–2006

An historic picture of the New Frontier, 1963

Portfolio/Series title: "An historic picture of the New Frontier, published here for the first time. Of these eighteen, ten have returned to private life… and this is what they have to say." published in Esquire

Where object was made: United States

Material/technique: gelatin silver print

Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 25.2 x 34.2 cm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 9 15/16 x 13 7/16 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 16 x 20 in

Credit line: On loan from the artist (formerly gift of Esquire, Inc.)

Accession number: 1980.0265

Not on display

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Archive Label:
Arnold Newman, a leading portrait photographer, made this picture for Esquire magazine. The picture serves as an elegant document of a break during business, as policy makers spread out across the stage-like space of the White House porch. Made with a large-format camera, the photograph is finely detailed; it retains details of the appearance of most of the figures, presenting a series of informal mini-portraits.

Realist transparency makes this image seem neutral. Yet as a representation, one might consider the assumptions about power that it carries that could not be stated in a written news report. We see from the picture that these men in power are all male, white, healthy, and well-dressed, qualities from which their power seems to accrue. Also evident from the image is the absence from the scene of people who are female, non-white, handicapped, elderly, or members of the working and middle classes. The group pictured seems defined in part precisely by these exclusions.