Kraters op de maan before 1898

Editor: So, here we have "Kraters op de Maan," or "Craters on the Moon," by Loewy and Puiseux, printed sometime before 1898. It’s a photograph, printed on paper… what really grabs me is the texture. It looks almost like the surface of some primordial soup! What do you see in this piece that really sings to you? Curator: It’s a cosmic topography, isn't it? This photograph takes me back, in a way, to childhood dreams, where the moon was a reachable destination. The ambition! Loewy and Puiseux aimed their lens toward another world, and captured not just an image, but the poetry of light and shadow. Do you feel how the craters almost dance before your eyes? They shift in size, overlapping, receding into darkness, like dreams forming and fading. Editor: Absolutely. There’s something…dreamlike about it, even though it’s supposedly scientific. I also find it interesting that, to some extent, you could also perceive that landscape from another landscape that is much nearer to earth. What can you say about that contrast, perhaps, the artists might want to capture or showcase by contrasting both scapes? Curator: An intriguing contrast indeed, because this makes me remember a painting that does not look like anything like it! I am thinking about Frederic Church´s "Cotopaxi", for some reason! Although this piece aims at scientific depiction, there is something evocative there! By making me reminisce like that, this highlights not just the scientific pursuit, but also our human yearning to map ourselves onto the universe. And this, for me, speaks volumes about the place of photography within the arts as a discipline! It merges observation with emotion, a true alchemy. Don't you think? Editor: Yes, absolutely! That's such an interesting take on the artistic potential that lies beneath such photography. I'll definitely look at it in a new light. Thank you! Curator: It was my pleasure, glad I opened up some new perspectives!