MOON – Photographing the Moon, 1840—Now

A photographic account of man’s fascination with the moon, fifty years after the moon landing

On 21 July 1969, at 2.56am UTC, Neil Alden Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon. Fifty years later, MOON takes you on a photographic journey to our nearest celestial body, and back again. The subject of dreams and the imagination, but also the catalyst for a global Space Race: the moon leaves no one untouched.

Editors Maarten Dings and Joachim Naudts (FOMU Antwerp) go in search of the story behind this elusive disc in our firmament and reconcile its scientific, political and poetic aspects. MOON reveals the early days of photography and includes images by Draper (1840) and Whipple (1852), together with plates from the unsurpassed lunar atlas by Loewy & Puiseux (1896–1910). This book explores the pivotal year of the Apollo mission in 1969 and the Cold War era, yet also allows contemporary artists to shine their light on the moon. The result is a stimulating flow of images that balances on the fine line between fact and fiction, and between bitter seriousness and sweet dreams.

In this richly illustrated publication you will find 19th-century historical photography, archival images from NASA and Life magazine and a wide range of work by, among others, Annemie Augustijns, Fabrizio Boni & Giorgio De Finis, Tom Callemin, Cortis & Sonderegger, Cristina de Middel, Joan Fontcuberta, Vincent Fournier, Léon Gimpel, Harry Gruyaert, Kikuji Kawada, Sjoerd Knibbeler, Michael Light, Agnes Meyer-Brandis, Joel Meyerowitz, Aleksandra Mir, Lisa Oppenheim, Johan Österholm, Katie Paterson, Robert Pufleb & Nadine Schlieper, Penelope Umbrico and Garry Winogrand.

With essays by Wilco Versteeg and James Attlee.

Publication accompanying the MAAN/MOON exhibition at Fotomuseum Antwerp, from 28.06.2019 – 06.10.2019.