The Kiss of Life, July 17, 1967

Not on View

Medium

gelatin silver print

Dimensions

image: 24.4 × 18 cm (9 5/8 × 7 1/16 in.)

sheet: 25.6 × 20.6 cm (10 1/16 × 8 1/8 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mary and Dan Solomon

Accession Number

2018.177.630

Artists / Makers

Rocco Morabito (artist) American, 1920 - 2009

Image Use

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Inscription

crop marks around perimeter in black ink and grease pencil; by unknown hand, upper right in grease pencil underlined: 71; on verso, top left stamped in black ink: Morabito Rocco & Works-1; upper left stamped in red ink: OCT 13 1975 E; upper left stamped in blue ink perpendicular: '75 OCT 9 PM 4:57; upper left printed in black ink on applied barcode label perpendicular: HDH-266-BS; center printed in black ink on applied newspaper: Florida skies are overcast on a / muggy day, July 17, 1967, as the / linemen report for a routine morn- / ing job in a Jacksonville suburb. / The power lines are dead, they're / told. Except one. And lineman Ran- / dall Champion hits it and is knocked / unconscious. Other linemen, a block / away, race down their poles to help. / Jimmy Thompson is first up the / pole where Champion is hanging up- / side down. He begins mouth-to- / mouth resuscitation (accompanying / photo) to his stricken buddy who has / turned blue. Another lineman fol- / lows Thompson up and together / they bring him down. / He regains consciousness half- / way down the pole and is sped off by / ambulance. He will be out of work a / few months for skin grafts on his / feet. / It's a routine morning for Rocco [underlined in red ink] / Morabito, [circled in red ink] too. In fact, a slow day. / The veteran photographer for the / Jacksonville Journal is in the / same neighborhood on another as- / signment. / People are shouting as he pulls / up. He looks up and sees Champion, / upside down, unconscious. Morabito / shoots one quick picture, feeling / helpless as he races to the car-tele- / phone. / "Get help," he tells the office, not / knowing a distress call is already / out. When Morabito returns, Thomp- / son is up the pole, supplying the / "Kiss of life." [underlined in green ink] [by unknown hand in green ink: photo] / Morabito shoots again and again. / He races back to the office and / hand-develops the film--three min- / utes past deadline but the paper is / held for these pictures, which will / earn him a Pulitzer Prize.

Provenance

Mary and Dan Solomon, Monarch Beach, CA; gift to NGA, 2018.

Associated Names

Solomon, Dan and Mary