Remembering the Space Age. - Black Vault Radio Network (BVRN)

exaMINING the ICONIC aND reDISCOVerING the phOtOGraphY Of 291
SpaCe expLOratION IN CONtext tO the hIStOrY Of phOtOGraphY
MER Opportunity on Mars at Victoria crater: 2008. (JPL/NASA)
simplicity, dramatic lighting, and eye contact that reveal Mcarthur’s purpose,
pride, dignity and humanness. 32
While the photographers of the american frontier were drawn to the
possibilities inherent in the open range, others who were captivated by life in
urban and industrial centers were emerging. the evolution of photographic
technology—glass plate to acetate-based negative flm and more reliable handheld
cameras—resulted in equipment that was less cumbersome, allowing the
photographer to respond to situations and environments with greater spontaneity
than previously possible. 33 this directly contributed to the emergence of industrial
and urban landscape photography. paul Strand was among a group of early 20th
century american photographers who explored the contrasts between urban
people and place. his documentation captured a moment in american urban
history. as his work defnes the urban landscape at the time, it may seem to be
a commentary on american and even western civilization. take, for example,
Strand’s black-and-white image “Wall Street 1915.” the photograph depicts the
side of an indiferent stone building with massive, black rectangular windows
reigning over shadowed and silhouetted fgures. the fgures walk anonymously
alongside the tall and seemingly impenetrable building. In an interview in New
York City in 1973, Strand discussed his aesthetic:
32. In documenting the SM4/StS125 mission preparations to the hubble Space telescope, the
author secured the frst authorized portrait session of an astronaut crew in more than 25 years.
Mcarthur’s portrait is from that series which was photographed in black-and-white and color in
the anechoic laboratory at JSC.
33. 20th century landscape photographers like alfred Stieglitz, edward Steichen, edward Weston,
ansel adams, paul Caponigro, and harry Callahan among others sought environments and
subject matter that responded to their intellectual curiosity and idiosyncratic manner of
combining lighting and composition—all of which infuenced their approach to interpreting
both the natural and the human made.