[Five Gentlemen Conversing around Table]

Erich Salomon

1920s–30s · Gelatin silver print · Photographs

The phrase "candid camera" was first coined in 1929 to describe Salomon's idiosyncratic technique of capturing the world's most powerful political and industrial leaders revealing themselves as ordinary human beings: talking, yawning, and joking. With his 35mm Ermanox camera concealed (sometimes in a hat or suitcase) and his unobtrusive appearance, Salomon was able to cut through the slick facade conveyed by official state portraits, both deflating and humanizing the politicians he photographed. This picture was taken in the Reichskanzlei in Berlin.

Artist

Erich Salomon

Date

1920s–30s

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Department

Photographs

Credit line

Ford Motor Company Collection, Gift of Ford Motor Company and John C. Waddell, 1987