[Electrocution of Ruth Snyder, Sing Sing Prison, Ossining, New York]

Tom Howard

1928 · Gelatin silver print · Photographs

In spite of the universal ban on cameras in American death chambers, news editors have long recognized the public’s hunger for eyewitness images of high-profile executions. In January 1928 Tom Howard made tabloid history when he photographed, using a miniature camera strapped to his ankle, the electrocution of the convicted murderer Ruth Snyder at Sing Sing prison in Ossining, New York. The sensational picture ran under banner headlines on the front page of the New York Daily News two days in a row.

Artist

Tom Howard

Date

1928

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Department

Photographs

Credit line

Twentieth-Century Photography Fund, 2008