Press Release: 5th April 2011

Never Seen Before UK Visit Images of Yuri Gagarin, The First Man in Space

But Who Commissioned Them?

Left: Yuri Gagarin at Heathrow, RIA NOVOSTI/SPL
Centre: Yuri Gagarin driving through London, RIA NOVOSTI/SPL
Right: Yuri Gagarin with police escort, RIA NOVOSTI/SPL

Science Photo Library, the world's leading provider of scientific and specialist imagery and RIA Novosti, Russia's leading news agency, have a number of rare, some of them unseen, images of Yuri Gagarin visiting the United Kingdom in July 1961, three months after his historic trip into space. Being the first man in space, he became a worldwide celebrity overnight and his trip, something akin to a state visit.

Science Photo Library and RIA Novosti are attempting to trace the person who owns the rights to these images! Were you the man who was asked to lend his open-top Rolls Royce to take Yuri Gagarin around London in July 1961? Or maybe you think it was your father or grandfather? This man may have cunningly changed his license plates to "YG1" which obviously makes tracking him down all the more tricky! Has your father regaled you about his time with Yuri, showing you photo after photo? Or maybe you have the famous license plate in your attic?

During preparations for the photography exhibition, 'Poyekhali! Yuri Gagarin & The Dawn of Space Exploration', opening at the Royal Albert Hall on 9 June 2011, RIA Novosti re-discovered these fascinating images. There is Yuri leaving Heathrow Airport waved off by crowds similar to those that greeted the Beatles in New York, meeting the Beefeaters at the Tower of London, and emerging from the lift he got stuck in at Earl's Court. To see the selection, visit www.sciencephoto.com.

Ralph Gibson, photo librarian at the London bureau of RIA Novosti said, "The prints were sent to our photo library many years ago. Apparently the photographer who was commissioned to take them felt our archive was the most suitable place for them. Since we are doing an exhibition about Yuri at the Royal Albert Hall in June and early July, I certainly thought they were worth considering. Although no final decisions have been made as to what to include in the exhibition, the story behind these particular images is intriguing. My understanding is the commission came from one of the organisers of his trip - and they are certainly close up and personal, so he must have had special access."

Gary Evans, Manager of Scientific Relations at Science Photo Library, added, "The British Government was rather wrong-footed by Gagarin's popularity. He had been invited to Manchester by a foundry workers' union - Gagarin had trained as a foundryman before becoming a pilot. Initially meant to be a low-key visit, he was however mobbed by crowds of well-wishers. What was the protocol for welcoming him, a mere Major, when Khrushchev himself had not been given a state banquet? In the end, a luncheon with the Queen was hurriedly arranged and Gagarin's visit extended to allow it. Even so, not everyone was impressed - Prime Minister Harold Macmillan was heard to remark that the crowds would have been twice as large had the Russians sent over Laika the space dog!"