FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 2021
The world’s most famous photograph of Stephen Hawking becomes an NFT
Artist David Gamble & Minted x Morphy to drop an exclusive NFT of iconic Stephen Hawking photograph
London, UK – The world’s most famous photograph of genius theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking will be auctioned as an exclusive NFT by the award-winning British-American photographer and artist David Gamble in partnership with Minted x Morphy.
Originally published in Time Magazine in 1988, David Gamble’s now iconic photograph of Stephen Hawking has been used in countless publications. That same year of the photograph’s publication, Hawking asked Gamble if the photograph could be the book cover of his seminal work A Brief History of Time. The book became an international best seller with the first twenty seven editions selling millions worldwide.
Gamble’s photograph of Hawking went on to win numerous awards, including the World Press Award in 1989 and the American Photo of the Year Award in 1989. The photograph can be seen in the permanent collections of The National Portrait Gallery in London and The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.
“I wanted to create something where he’s the center of everything that is around him. That’s why I chose that low angle because I wanted to give him a visual strength.” – David Gamble
Now, for the first time, this iconic photograph of Stephen Hawking will be an exclusive 1/1 edition NFT.
This will be David Gamble’s first NFT in a series, which will later include Gamble’s upcoming “Q” series, and photos of Neil deGrasse Tyson and others, all in partnership with Minted x Morphy.
NFT details
The winner of the auction will acquire an exclusive, never-released mp4 audio file of an uncut, 53-minute interview with the reclusive photographer David Gamble discussing the day he took Hawking’s photograph. This interview was recorded in his New Orleans studio in May, 2021.
The Stephen Hawking NFT drop and auction will launch on October 5, 2021 – October 9, 2021 on OpenSea.
Link to the auction can be found here.
For more details on the photograph and NFT, please visit here.
“We’re living at a time of renewed scientific inquiry, including space travel. Sir Richard Branson’s recent flight into space was aboard the VSS Unity, which Hawking had in fact named. This couldn’t be a more perfect time for us to reflect again on Hawking’s importance to the world as it charts exciting new territories in science and technology.” – David Gamble
About David Gamble
David Gamble is a multidisciplinary artist from London, now based in New Orleans. His body of work consists of paintings, works on paper, and photographs, all of which have been exhibited globally.
Throughout the 1980s and 90s, Gamble worked as one of the foremost international editorial photographers for publications such as The Observer, The Independent, LIFE, Fortune, The New Yorker, The Sunday Times, and more. Over his decades-long career spanning the commercial, journalistic, and fine art realms, Gamble has photographed such illustrious figures as Stephen Hawking, Margret Thatcher, the Dalai Lama, with several of his portraits included in the permanent collections of The National Portrait Gallery in London and The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.
In 1987, Gamble won the Kodak Award for Best Photographer in Europe as well as a World Press Photo Award in 1988 for his portrait of Stephen Hawking, which was used as the notable cover of Hawking’s A Brief History of Time. In 1989, Gamble was given The American Photography Award.
Renowned in the world of photography, Gamble was contacted in 1987 by Fred Hughes (Andy Warhol’s manager and founder of the Andy Warhol Foundation) to shoot an exclusive series of photographs inside Warhol’s house on East 66th Street in New York City, a few months after the artist’s death. In April 2018, Sotheby’s auctioned off, for the first time, two of Gamble’s rare photographs from inside the East 66th Street house. A large Warhol Medicine Cabinet picture is part of the permanent collection of The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, PN.
He continues to pursue both photographic and painting projects in the US and internationally.
Website: www.davidgamble.net
Instagram: @davidgambleartist
About Minted x Morphy
Morphy works in partnership with world class fine artists, minting, and sometimes animating their physical works, turning them into unique digital tokens on the Ethereum blockchain, providing provenance and immutability. Morphy serves its artists in the process, strategy, and management of positioning their fine art in the crypto market.
Website: www.morphyhodls.com
Instagram: @morphyhodls
Twitter: @MorphyHodls
