[KING, Martin Luther, Jr. (1929-1968)]. SLEET, Moneta, Jr. (1926-1996), photographer. Dr. King asleep on plane en route to Oslo, Norway to Receive Nobel Peace Prize, 1964. Printed later.

8 1/8 x 10 in. (including margins) silver gelatin photograph (few creases to margins, light surface wear). Features Dr. King sleeping with his hands clasped together near his face and curtains pulled together over the windows behind his head. Verso bears affixed paper label with typewritten caption and ink inscription reading, "credit photographer Moneta Sleet, Jr."

Born in Owensboro, KY, Moneta Sleet, Jr. studied journalism and photography extensively before serving his county in World War II. After returning to the US, he began a long career at Ebony Magazine in 1955. It was in that capacity that he followed Martin Luther King, Jr. for 13 years, witnessing (and more importantly, capturing) the Civil Rights Movement up close. One of his most famous images was a photograph of King with Rosa Parks, Ralph Abernathy, Ralph Bunche, and Coretta Scott King, leading a group of marchers. Sleet became the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for photography in 1969 for his photograph, Deep Sorrow, which captured Coretta Scott King at her husband's funeral.

This is a circa 1970-1975 restrike of the original image.
This lot is located in Cincinnati.

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