Making of ‘Frame 371’ (by Abraham Zapruder, 1963), 2015

The story behind the photograph…

On the morning of 22 November 1963, the Russian-born dressmaker and amateur photographer Abraham Zapruder (1905–1970) made his way to Dealey Plaza, intending to film the motorcade that would carry President John F. Kennedy and his wife Jackie through downtown Dallas. Zapruder took with him his 8mm Bell & Howell Zoomatic movie camera. The 26-second film he ended up shooting – 486 frames on Kodachrome II colour safety film – turned out to be the most momentous home movie ever made. It captured the instant that one bullet struck President Kennedy in the back, and then a second exploded the side of his head. Frame 371 shows Jackie reaching across the back of the presidential limousine, and Secret Service agent Clint Hill climbing desperately onto the car. The film was developed later that day at Eastman Kodak’s processing plant in Dallas: Zapruder kept the original and one copy, and two further copies were passed to the Secret Service. The following day, Zapruder sold the film rights to Life magazine, on condition that Frame 313, which showed the gruesome fatal shot, would not be reproduced. The original film and camera now reside in the US National Archives.