Apollo 12: Self Portrait
Explanation:
Is this image art?
50 years ago,
Apollo 12 astronaut-photographer Charles
"Pete" Conrad recorded this masterpiece while documenting colleague
Alan Bean's lunar soil collection activities on
Oceanus Procellarum.
The
featured image is
dramatic and stark.
The harsh environment of
the Moon's
Ocean of Storms is echoed in Bean's helmet, a perfectly
composed reflection
of Conrad and the
lunar horizon.
Works of photojournalists originally intent on recording the
human condition on
planet Earth,
such as
Lewis W. Hine's
images from New York City in the early 20th century, or
Margaret Bourke-White's magazine
photography are widely regarded as
art.
Similarly many
documentary astronomy and
space images might also be appreciated for their artistic and
esthetic appeal.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
