The Apollo space program, which conducted 12 manned missions between 1961 and 1975, was the first to bring humans to the moon, and has become a cultural touchstone. The most famous mission, of course, is Apollo 11, when Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong became the first humans to walk on the surface of the moon.These scientific triumphs were mainly communicated to the world through imagery: photographs and film footage that made front-page and headline news around the world. MoMA has recently acquired a group of 51 of these photographs, from three of the Apollo missions: 46 color and black-and-white images from Apollo 11, one black-and-white photograph from Apollo 12, and four black-and-white photographs from Apollo 15.
All 51 photographs acquired by MoMA were taken on a 70mm Hasselblad camera using different film stocks. MacGill has explained that he chose images with both scientific and aesthetic value, including astronauts’ snapshots of each other, lunar landscapes that provide information about the moon’s surface, and photographs of NASA equipment.
Left: Untitled photograph from the Apollo 11 mission. July 1969. Chromogenic color print. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Susan and Peter MacGill; right: Untitled photograph from the Apollo 11 mission. July 1969. Chromogenic color print. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Susan and Peter MacGill
Left: Untitled photograph from the Apollo 12 mission. November 1969. Gelatin silver print. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Susan and Peter MacGill; right: Untitled photograph from the Apollo 15 mission. July 1971. Gelatin silver print. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Susan and Peter MacGill
Left: “View of Astronaut Footprint in Lunar Soil.” July 1969. Gelatin silver print. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. The New York Times Collection; right: Untitled photograph from the Apollo 11 mission. July 1969. Chromogenic color print. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Susan and Peter MacGill