We were commissioned by Magnum Photos to design a book containing a compelling set of images by Paul Fusco. In 1968, Fusco accompanied the funeral train of Robert Kennedy which carried his coffin along the
east coast from NYC to its final resting place in Arlington Cemetery, Washington D.C. The coffin was placed in the last carriage, elevated on two chairs, visible through large observation windows. From Fusco’s viewpoint on board the train, he simply photographed what he saw.
As the light faded towards the end
of the journey, the images become blurred, somehow, adding further atmosphere to an already emotive set of images. Previously unpublished, the images lay in Fusco’s archive
until 1999.
Prior to the advent of digital photography, this book is an early example of digital ‘printing on demand’. The book was produced
as a limited edition of 350 and we exploited the digital printing process by creating a set of twelve different covers, all individually numbered. Each cover, therefore, was unique.
The book was produced to coincide with an exhibition of the original photos at The Photographers Gallery, London.
