The moon is locked in synchronous orbit with the earth, it is impossible to see its far side. The first American images of the far side of the moon were not produced until NASA’s Lunar Orbiter Program in 1966. These process driven photographic works seek to exploit our faith in the photograph as document. The series focuses on how the technology of photography functions and changes through time. It is composed of actual photographs of the dark side of the moon printed on paper that expired before images of the dark side of the moon ever existed. In 1961, the technological limits of photography were clearly understood. The camera was present, saw the object in space, and recorded it on film. We believed it to be real because we understood this process. By merging contemporary computer technology with the limitations of the photographic process (circa 1961) we put into question the photograph as a cultural icon of veracity. As a result, this project is about undermining the limitations of the medium. The final product is a paradoxical image, an impossible object representing the state of image-making today, a medium that can transcend notions of time and truth.
Dark Moon 1961 an Expired Archive. 8×10 inch, Silver Gelatin Prints, Printed on Kodak Kodabromide E-2 Batch 11808-1041 Expired February, 1961, Printed in 2014