The Ruth Snyder Execution
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by Thomas Howard


This is the first stolen tabloid image of the 20th century, and also the most famous 
because it happens to be the only photograph ever to be taken of a state sanctioned 
execution. This image is still controversial to this very day because firstly the image 
was obtained unlawfully and secondly because the subject matter of the image was a Woman.

The subject of the photograph is Ruth Snyder who together with her lover Judd Gray were 
executed on the 12th January 1928 by Electrocution at Sing Sing prison in New York. Snyder 
and Grey were tried and convicted of the murder of Ruth Snyders husband Alfred Snyder.

Photographers are not permitted into executions in the United States, so the New York 
Daily News hired photographer Thomas Howard and brought him down from Washington because 
he wasn't known to the Prison Warders or Journalists in the New York area.

Passing himself of as a writer, Howard arrived early to get the best seat in the house. 
Straped to his left ankle was a concealed minature camera. the camera had a single 
photographic plate and was linked by cable to the shutter release that was concealed within 
his jacket. When Snyders body shook from the first jolt, Howard depressed the shutter 
release and exposing the plate. During the second jolt he pressed again producing a feeling 
of movement in the final image.

After the photograph was published on the front page with just the simple banner headline 
"DEAD!", Howard became famous practically overnight. He recieved a large bonus from the paper 
and went on to become the head of photography for the White House