One Giant Leap for Mankind: Vintage Photographs from the Victor Martin-Malburet Collection 
28 October 2022
, The first selfie in outer space, Buzz Aldrin [Gemini XII], 11-15 November 1966 - Image 1 of 3
, The first selfie in outer space, Buzz Aldrin [Gemini XII], 11-15 November 1966 - Image 2 of 3
, The first selfie in outer space, Buzz Aldrin [Gemini XII], 11-15 November 1966 - Image 3 of 3
One Giant Leap for Mankind: Vintage Photographs from the Victor Martin-Malburet Collection 
, The first selfie in outer space, Buzz Aldrin [Gemini XII], 11-15 November 1966 - Image 1 of 3
, The first selfie in outer space, Buzz Aldrin [Gemini XII], 11-15 November 1966 - Image 2 of 3
, The first selfie in outer space, Buzz Aldrin [Gemini XII], 11-15 November 1966 - Image 3 of 3
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The first selfie in outer space, Buzz Aldrin [Gemini XII], 11-15 November 1966

printed 1966
vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper 10 h × 8 w in (25 × 20 cm)
estimate: $8,000–12,000
result: $22,500
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During his stand up EVA, Buzz Aldrin lowered his gold-plated visor for a rare self-portrait that clearly shows his features. In previous pictures of spacewalkers, sunlight reflecting off the visor obscured their faces. Aldrin himself described the photograph as the first selfie in space.
Numbered to upper margin 'NASA S-66-62926' with 'A Kodak Paper' watermarks to verso.

note: Media visuals referencing the original NASA photograph(s) not included.
literature: Life, 2 December 1966, pg. 40 Space: A History of Space Exploration in Photographs, Chaikin, pg. 71 Exploring Space with a Camera (NASA SP-168), Cortright, ed., pg. 184 The View from Space: American Astronaut Photography, 1962–1972, Schick and Van Haaften, pg. 4

print

During his stand up EVA, Aldrin lowered his gold-plated visor for a rare self-portrait that clearly shows his features. 

In previous pictures of spacewalkers, sunlight reflecting off the visor obscured their faces. Aldrin himself described the photograph as the first selfie in space. The back of the blue Maurer 70mm space camera can be seen at the lower left-hand side. The L-band antenna of the Agena target docking vehicle docked to the Gemini spacecraft and the Atlantic Ocean with the coast of Africa are in the background. Aldrin used the Super-Wide Hasselblad camera and its 38mm lens to take the photograph.

LIFE, 2 December 1966, pg. 40

From the mission transcript when the photograph was taken:

020:59:01 Aldrin:

Now let me raise my visor and I’ll smile. [...]

020:59:28 Lovell:

Okay. It’s 35 minutes. Do you want to start bringing the camera in and getting it all squared away? [...]

020:59:52 Aldrin:

Well, we still have a lot of daylight. [...]

021:00:33 Aldrin:

Which camera do you mean you want to get in?

021:00:35 Lovell:

I want to get in the EVA 16mm.

021:00:40 Aldrin:

Okay.

021:00:42 Aldrin:

Well, the Hasselblad’s just about empty.

021:01:06 Aldrin:

I never did think about taking a picture of myself.

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