If I'm writing this post I have to thank the MoMA, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, which, although I never had the occasion to visit yet, offered a undoubtely valuable and interesting possibility of diving in the world of photography.
In case you were interested, I'm talking about the free online course "Seing through photographs", that won't teach you how to take pictures, but it will open doors and perspectives on photography through its most valuable photographs.
I'm currently on week 2 and this week's subject was the moon.
John Adams Whipple. The Moon. 1853-54. Salted paper print, 7 1/4 x 6" (18.4 x 15.2 cm).
This is one of the first pictures of the moon, taken pairing the camera with the telescope.
I find so fascinating seeing the evolution of technology, or the lack of it, but still the capacity of creating beautiful things.
Ansel Adams. Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico. 1941. Gelatin silver print, 15 x 18 1/2" (38.1 x 47 cm). Gift of the photographer. © 2016 The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust.
This is Ansel Adams' Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico from 1941: one moment, one chance, one negative. The beauty and the balance of this picture are stunning. The black and the white are so harmoniously in contrast that you could sit for hours looking at this picture.
I always think that while I struggle to learn Photoshop there were (and probably there are) some masters of the photographic process, able to control its elements in a dark room, from the exposure of the negative to the development of the picture.
"Attempting to convey the intensity of his experience watching the moon rise over this austere landscape, Adams progressively increased the contrast in the prints, heightening the moon’s whiteness and deepening the sky’s darkness." (Sarah Meister, "Seeing Through Photographs" online course by Coursera, One Subject, Many Perspectives)
NASA. Far Side of the Moon. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio.
As far as it can be, the moon gives a feeling of reassurance.
And it is so fascinating to think about the beautiful struggle that many put into capturing it.
I attempted to picture the moon too, in my own small way, and I like to think to belong to those dreamers that always look up and try to catch what cannot be caught.
I hope I succeed in sharing a little bit of that awe and that passion that caught me.