Western Daily Press (Saturday)
OUT OF THIS WORLD
A new exhibition being staged by the Royal Photographic Society explores the role of photography in the 1969 moon landing, which took place 50 years ago this month. Alex Ross went along and found what he saw was out of this world
INEVER much liked museums and exhibitions. Maybe it was my mother’s insistence on dragging me into boring 19th-century art galleries as a child or the fact pictures on a wall could never fulfil my low attention span.
Whatever it was, whenever arriving in a city of culture abroad or in the UK, I’d always been much happier leaving everyone else to visit the museum while I find a quiet cafe or bar.
This, however, could be about to change.
Because if every exhibition can be as mesmerising, clinging and well presented as the Royal Photographic Society’s look at space exploration I may from now on be skipping that coffee or cold beer in future.
Bristol-based Space Steps: The Moon and Beyond wonderfully tells the story of space exploration through the use of photography - images taken by a Hasselblad still camera to be exact.
Yes, we’ve all seen the image of Buzz Aldrin stepping down the ladder, the picture of the footprint on the moon’s surface and the American flag standing proud in the nonexistent wind.
But have you seen one of the firstever images of the blue-covered earth from space? To think this had never been seen before - we never actually knew what our home looked like 60 years ago.
And then there are the mind-boggling pictures of the astronauts in space, seemingly wrapped in knots around white and gold tubes like large babies with only blackness surrounding them.
Talk about brave.
Then there are tragic pictures of
the three crew members of the doomed Apollo 1, just two years before the moon landing. The men’s faces appear nervous, excited as they stand in front of the launch pad.
But the mission never flew. A cabin fire during a launch rehearsal test at Cape Kennedy killed all three crew members – Command Pilot Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, Senior Pilot Ed White, and Pilot Roger B. Chaffee – and destroyed the command module
We also get to see the preparations for Apollo 11, the successful moon landing mission, with the crew walking inside a television studio-like room some sceptics say where the real landing was filmed.
Did not know that.
And there’s more than pictures inside this small, darkened exhibition space tucked inside the society’s new home at the Paintworks, off the Bath Road.
Fascinating memorabilia includes Russian-made china dogs of Strelka and Belka, the first dogs to survive in space.
There is a strand of Neil Armstrong’s hair sold by barber Marz Sizemore and the first photographs of the moon from 1859 by Warren De La Rue which bizarrely have been loaned to the exhibition by Brian May, more famous on the guitar for rock band Queen.
A Hasselblad camera used in space on two missions is on display.
And next week, dust from the surface of the moon will arrive from the British National Space Centre in Swindon.
All of this - the pictures, the video and the memorabilia - may never have happened, the exhibition’s curator Deborah Ireland tells me as I stand marvelling at the images.
When Russia was the first country to send a man into space the nation did not widely share images and footage, and it was only after persuasion did Nasa agree to allow John Glenn to take photographs during their moon-landing mission.
It was believed that the cameras could prove a distraction and hazard for the men, Ms Ireland says.
“Can you imagine if no pictures had been taken?” she says as we look up at an image taken of Aldrin standing on the feature-less moon surface.
Ms Ireland said: “The images illustrated the story of achievement in space and revealed a view of the world never seen before. They enabled the public to share the progress of those extraordinary adventures still celebrated today.”
The Hasselblad camera was built by Swede Victor Hasselblad for public use and had been well used in fashion.
It was only in 1962 when astronaut Walter Schirra, part of a team of seven on the Mercury missions, bought a Hasselblad 500C camera that it was suggested it be used in space.
After successfully taking pictures on a mission in the same year, Hasselblad cameras were included on all future space flights.
Eight years on, during the moon landing, they provided spectacular panorama images of the moon.
Around 600 million people witnessed the momentous landing at 2.56am UK time on July 21 in 1969, and no-one alive who saw it will have forgotten it.
It inspired universal awe. Ms Ireland says: “How could you forget it? Everybody was watching it, then talking about it, then watching it again. I was 11 watching it on a small black and white television on a farm with my parents. We didn’t even have a phone, but there we were watching the moon-landing.
“It had a huge impact on us all. It made you think that everything was possible.”
And although interest and funding may have waned in subsequent decades, those first missions including the moon landing are likely to always hold strong appeal.
Just a look at the memorabilia from the time on display at the exhibition reveals the hysteria at the time. There are ashtrays, tea towels and even commemorative medallions to mark the moon landings.
The Russians were also keen to show-off their space achievements.
At the exhibition is a plate with Yuri Gagarin painted on along with plenty of items representing the dogs the country sent up to space. There are two china pieces showing Belka and Strelka.
Then, in one display cabinet, are various British newspapers laid out showing the dramatic front pages reporting on the moon landing.
“There is so much to celebrate looking back,” said Ms Ireland.
I was 11 watching it on a small black and white television on a farm with my parents. We didn’t even have a phone, but there we were watching the moon-landing
DEBORAH IRELAND
“The people involved in these missions were breaking new ground and taking personal risks. It is well worth remembering their input; some of it is still used today in computing. I’m delighted to be involved in this exhibition which I hope showed the power of photography in space. Without it, it wouldn’t have been the same.”
I wander slowly back out of the exhibition stepping down the stairs to exit.
So interactive and engaging are the displays, I’m almost envisaging myself walking down the ladder on to the moon’s surface. I’ll never turn down a museum visit again.
Space Steps: The Moon and Beyond is on at the society until September 29. On July 20, Miss Ireland will give a talk on the photographic story of the moon landings to mark the 50th anniversary at We Are Curious in Bristol on July 20.
At the society’s house, talks will be given on society space dog memorabilia on July 24 and on women’s involvement in the space race on August 8.
For details and to book, visit www.rps.org/spacestepsevents