Apollo 12: Self-Portrait
Is it art?
In November of 1969,
Apollo 12 astronaut-photographer
Charles "Pete" Conrad recorded
this masterpiece while documenting colleague Alan Bean's
lunar soil collection activities on
the Oceanus Procellarum.
The image is dramatic and stark.
Bean is faceless.
The harsh environment of the Moon's Ocean of Storms is
echoed in his helmet's 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
can be appreciated for their artistic and
esthetic appeal.