Tristan Stumpf
Sam Shere, The Hindenburg Disaster
1937- Gelatin Silver Print
This photo is one of great infamy taken by Sam Shere on May 6, 1937. It depicts the fall of the Hindenburg zeppelin moments after the hydrogen, meant to keep it afloat, caught flame. Out of the 97 people on board, 36 were killed. That is a surprisingly high survival rate for the crashing of a metal balloon filled with flammable gas and civilians. However, this photo, almost single handedly, brought an end to the use of airships on a global scale. It was not due to this being the first tragedy of its kind; in 1933 the USS Akron went down over New Jersey killing 73 people. October 5, 1930, had the crash of the British R101 over a field in France killing 48 people. These are only a few of copious amounts of crashes that occurred prior to the Hindenburg; so what makes the crash captured by Sam Shere more powerful than one 4 years prior with over double the casualties? Perhaps it is just the fact that it was captured at all.
