In Partial Support of His Contention That Another Assassin was Firing at Kennedy from the Grassy Knoll... 22 - 1963

These two photographs, originally published in Josiah Thompson's book 'Six Seconds in Dallas', freeze moments after the Kennedy assassination. As photographs, they are about capturing a single moment in time, but they are also about telling a story, inviting speculation. The grainy, black and white tones give an unsettling feel. The composition is divided, documentary style, with the top image showing the immediate aftermath, a policeman running towards the grassy knoll. The bottom half shows a wider view, spectators scrambling up the slope. Look closely: the slightly blurred focus. The way figures are caught mid-motion, conveys a sense of chaos and urgency. It’s these details, these accidental qualities, that allow us to feel the unsettled atmosphere of that day. Like a painting, the power is not in the complete representation of a scene, but in the feeling and space that is created. You see that feeling echoed in the work of Gerhard Richter. These photographs are part of an ongoing conversation about the nature of truth, memory, and how we make sense of the world around us.