Formation of the Plume (Column) in the 'Baker' Test, 1946
ArtistAssociated Press,
founded 1848
Gelatin silver print
Image dimensions20,4 x 25,5 cm
Status
not on displayThis photograph bears witness to the atomic age. The Cold War between the Western powers, led by the USA, and the Soviet Union-dominated Eastern Bloc (ca. 1947-1989), was characterized by an arms race, nuclear bomb tests and the threat of nuclear weapons being deployed. The parties involved sought to demonstrate their technological and military strength through these means. The photograph shows the Baker Test, conducted as part of "Operation Crossroads" on the US-occupied Bikini Atoll in the Pacific - the first nuclear weapons test witnessed by the public and the press. A large number of photographs were taken for the purposes of news coverage, political representation and scientifically documenting and analysing the tests. What remains invisible in these images are the consequences of the radioactive fallout caused by the explosion: environmental contamination, illness and trauma.
AccessionGift 2019
Provenance[...]; 2019 erworben durch Schenkung von Kicken Berlin in Erinnerung an Rudolf KickenInventory numberF.2019.2541
Contact
sammlung@kunstpalast.de