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Full Moon
jblackman wrote to us with a review of Full Moon. Rather than a more normal book review here, Full Moon is actually a collection of some of the best photographs taken of the Moon over the several decades. It also includes an original essay from Andrew Chaikin, as well. Click below to learn more.
Full Moon
author
Michael Light
pages
244
publisher
Knopf Publishing
rating
8/10
reviewer
jblackman
ISBN
0375406344
summary
A pictorial story of the Moon.
One of the many great successes of the Apollo Program is the photographic record it left to posterity. Over the course of 11 missions and six moon landings, astronauts took over 32,000 still photographs. Out of those 32,000 pictures, a few of them have become iconic, trancending their documentarian roots and embedding themselves in the collective conscious. Many of the rest have languished in NASA vaults, unknown for the most part.
In Full Moon, Michael Light weaves 129 of these forgotten treasures into a composite moon shot that captures the magnitude -- and the majesty -- of what might be humanity's grandest achievement.
Light follows the course of a hypothetical mission, from the flames and fury of lift-off to the triumphant return to earth. In between are images of a shrinking homeworld, a moon growing ever-larger in size, magnificent lunar vistas, and a vertiginous series of spacewalk photographs.
Full Moon is a triumph, and its status as a space photography tour de force is due to two major factors. Obviously, Light was solely responsible for the selection and arrangement of the photos, and his artistic judgment is what gives this book much of its impact. For example, one of the shots is of perhaps a square foot of nondescript lunar soil. Immediately after it is a picture of the exact same terrain, but this time marked by a human footprint. Even more evocative is the image of a family snapshot, wrapped in plastic, lying on the surface of the moon: a momento left by one of the men who walked there. The picture of a mighty Saturn booster, hurtling toward the heavens, framed by a dark navy sky is (currently) not one of the photographic icons of the Apollo Program, but after seeing it, you'll certainly think that it should be. The sheer breadth of the human exploratory effort is made apparent in gatefold panorama shots of the moon's surface -- and that's even before that little metallic glint catches your eye, and you realize that speck in the dust is the LEM, and this particular picture was taken untold miles away from it.
Light has done a marvelous job of choosing photographs to put on display. Of course, his feat was entirely dependent on the men who were actually there. The astronauts sent to the moon were chosen based on wide variety of criteria, but photographic prowess might as well have been one of them judging by the quality of the pictures they brought back. More than once, a moonscape might seem to possess an almost unreal clarity, as though it were a render. To be sure, an airless environment will do wonders for visibility, but the astronauts and their cameras were also just that good. In addition, the clarity of the prints benefit from an entirely new transfer from the NASA master negatives; most of the pictures seen so far have been third- or fourth-generation copies.
Any issues I had with Full Moon are merely matters of personal preference. I would have liked to see a few pictures from the development and assembly of the spacecraft, or maybe a couple pictures that emphasized the massive human effort that made this program a success. However, their absence does not detract at all from the book as a whole, and a case can easily be made, in fact, as to why they should not have been included. Some might find fault with the spacewalk pictures, as they were culled from the Gemini archives, rather than being true shots from Apollo. To me, though, their origin made not a bit of difference. They were wonderfully composed shots that only enhanced Light's mission to the moon.
Full Moon is capped off with an original essay from Andrew Chaikin (author of A Man On The Moon), notes and comments from Michael Light, and a thumbnailed index to the photographs in the book.
Full Moon is definitely skewed more toward artistic perspectives than scientific. However, I have absolutely no qualms in recommending it to anyone with the slightest interest in either the space program or photography. The purchase of this book is not an insignificant investment, but it is just that: an investment. You'll keep coming back to it, to get one more glimpse of our civilization at its very best.
In Full Moon, Michael Light weaves 129 of these forgotten treasures into a composite moon shot that captures the magnitude -- and the majesty -- of what might be humanity's grandest achievement.
Light follows the course of a hypothetical mission, from the flames and fury of lift-off to the triumphant return to earth. In between are images of a shrinking homeworld, a moon growing ever-larger in size, magnificent lunar vistas, and a vertiginous series of spacewalk photographs.
Full Moon is a triumph, and its status as a space photography tour de force is due to two major factors. Obviously, Light was solely responsible for the selection and arrangement of the photos, and his artistic judgment is what gives this book much of its impact. For example, one of the shots is of perhaps a square foot of nondescript lunar soil. Immediately after it is a picture of the exact same terrain, but this time marked by a human footprint. Even more evocative is the image of a family snapshot, wrapped in plastic, lying on the surface of the moon: a momento left by one of the men who walked there. The picture of a mighty Saturn booster, hurtling toward the heavens, framed by a dark navy sky is (currently) not one of the photographic icons of the Apollo Program, but after seeing it, you'll certainly think that it should be. The sheer breadth of the human exploratory effort is made apparent in gatefold panorama shots of the moon's surface -- and that's even before that little metallic glint catches your eye, and you realize that speck in the dust is the LEM, and this particular picture was taken untold miles away from it.
Light has done a marvelous job of choosing photographs to put on display. Of course, his feat was entirely dependent on the men who were actually there. The astronauts sent to the moon were chosen based on wide variety of criteria, but photographic prowess might as well have been one of them judging by the quality of the pictures they brought back. More than once, a moonscape might seem to possess an almost unreal clarity, as though it were a render. To be sure, an airless environment will do wonders for visibility, but the astronauts and their cameras were also just that good. In addition, the clarity of the prints benefit from an entirely new transfer from the NASA master negatives; most of the pictures seen so far have been third- or fourth-generation copies.
Any issues I had with Full Moon are merely matters of personal preference. I would have liked to see a few pictures from the development and assembly of the spacecraft, or maybe a couple pictures that emphasized the massive human effort that made this program a success. However, their absence does not detract at all from the book as a whole, and a case can easily be made, in fact, as to why they should not have been included. Some might find fault with the spacewalk pictures, as they were culled from the Gemini archives, rather than being true shots from Apollo. To me, though, their origin made not a bit of difference. They were wonderfully composed shots that only enhanced Light's mission to the moon.
Full Moon is capped off with an original essay from Andrew Chaikin (author of A Man On The Moon), notes and comments from Michael Light, and a thumbnailed index to the photographs in the book.
Full Moon is definitely skewed more toward artistic perspectives than scientific. However, I have absolutely no qualms in recommending it to anyone with the slightest interest in either the space program or photography. The purchase of this book is not an insignificant investment, but it is just that: an investment. You'll keep coming back to it, to get one more glimpse of our civilization at its very best.
Purchase this book at fatbrain.
There is a story on adobe.com about the restoration of the photos. http://www.adobe.com/prin t/gallery/lightstudios/main.html
... on exhibition dates, prints for purchase, etc, available here. Not cheap. Note: a slow site even without the slashdot effect.
I would have liked to have seen a few pictures from the development and assembly of the spacecraft, or maybe a couple of pictures that emphasized the massive human effort that made the program a success.
Charles Murray and Catherine Bly Cox wrote a (very well written) account that was all about the massive human effort that made the Apollo program a success (Apollo: Race to the Moon). The only thing they left out was the story of the astronauts, and because of that their book did not sell well and is now out of print.
I have read that surveys show that the American public's support of the space program is "broad but shallow". People want to read the astounding tales of real-life Buck Rogers, but they don't want hear anything about the science and technology that made the whole thing possible. Most people go into computer science and enginering for the money instead of a passion for science and technology. I somehow think there must be a connection between this attitude and the current state of the space program (0 for 2 for the latest Mars probes...)
When you guys said "full moon" I couldn't help but think of the pictures that appeared on slashdot during the last Comdex and a certain very important person from redmond. ;)
A little immature however slightly funny nontheless.
What really I thought was interesting was this little quote from the adobe link further down:
Light says he uses Photoshop "as if it were a darkroom, not a fantasy lab."
He did not "put material in or take material out, or move things around, or change a
red to a blue." Even so, he notes, "photographs have never been reality anyway. Their
veracity and objectivity have been a culturally shared fantasy from the start."
Well stemming from the obvious plug for adobe products I would have to disagree with his last statement. In all but the most technologically primitive cultures we have pretty much integrated that concept of the camera into almost everyone's mind. Look at national geographic. One of the most interesting magazines that is read in almost every country with people who can read or at least look at pictures. I see no compelling reason that pictures would be fantasy. When I see a picture I generally see reality. In fact there are mathmetical means of telling if said image is in fact real or not.
The trend to the obscure is not one that I am particularly fond of. Reality is ever present regardless of how we try to dilute it.
Slashdot social engineering at it's finest
*reads Full Moon*
*turns into werewolf*
Arrgh. This makes typing difficult.
I cannot possibly think of anything more boring that photography of the moon. Well... at least after a while... youve seen it once, youve seen it a thousand times... Its doesnt
change that often, you know.
Not all images of the moon are created equal and not all ideas are either. Future generations may wish to see the past and actually find out more about it. People in the past may have been more forgiving of what the see but take modern video games or images as an example. We supposedly had "good" imaging technology in the 1970's and 1980's with video games and instant cameras and the ever popular Poleroid camera. We increasingly want more out of our images and that's where things like this come in.
Huge masses of photograps and data is literally rotting away in old and hard to retrieve data formats that have betrayed us. I for one would welcome the possibility that perhaps this data will be left intact for over 100+ years without possible degradation.
However, the recent shots of the near earth asteroid were pretty interesting... At least there is a rock that I haven't seen before... Even had a white-spot to spruce things up and get
you thinking!
Explain exactly how a spot of white will allow for creativity? Is that similar top the ink blot tests that psychs preform? I really don't get it. In the long term all that you see are images because we never hardly go anywhere any more. Our missions have all concentrated on Earth orbital/minor reconissance and construction attempts.
If you are refering to the possibility of earth impact with an asteriod I think that highly improbably however it's not totally unlikely. I can think of better things to spend world wide money on than acting like Fox Mulder.
Slashdot social engineering at it's finest
I asked for this book for xmas. It rocks. The pictures in it are so incredible. One of the coolest things about the moon pics is that you think they're a black and white photo until you catch a glimpse of a copper deposit in the dirt, or some red patch on a space suit. Its almost a color-less world on the moon.
Whilist the book is enthraling, the exhibition is stunning - I would recommend it heavily.
I saw it at the Hayward Gallery in London last autumn. Even though I'd 'read' the book previously (okay, there isn't that much text aside from the captions at the back), and there was no new material in the exhibition, seeing one of the lunar panoramics taking up most of a wall was awesome.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SATURN V PLANS
"Despite a widespread belief to the contrary, the Saturn V blueprints have not been lost. They are kept at Marshall Space Flight Center on microfilm.
The problem in re-creating the Saturn V is not finding the drawings, it is finding vendors who can supply mid-1960's vintage hardware (like guidance system components), and the fact that the launch pads and VAB have been converted to Space Shuttle use, so you have no place to launch from.
By the time you redesign to accommodate available hardware and re-modify the launch pads, you may as well have started from scratch with a clean sheet design."
Kean