Carte photographique de la lune, planche XXI.A (Photographic Chart of the Moon, plate XXI.A) Possibly 1905 - 1914

Editor: It’s stark, isn’t it? Such austere beauty in this… print. Is it a drawing? Curator: This is “Carte photographique de la lune, planche XXI.A (Photographic Chart of the Moon, plate XXI.A)” by Charles Le Morvan. The date is estimated between 1905 and 1914. Editor: It feels so objective, almost clinical. Yet the varying shades of gray and the sharp contrasts create this haunting, alien landscape. The moon’s craters dominate the composition, drawing the eye into this topography of light and shadow. It’s a map, but it also feels like an abstract painting. Curator: Indeed. Think about the labour and resources to achieve this. Creating these photographic plates would've involved meticulous preparation of the materials, from the glass plate itself to the sensitizing chemicals. The photographer's darkroom work—the timing, the temperature, the solutions used to develop the print – all have such bearing. Editor: I’m intrigued by the shapes repeated across the surface. Note the formal relation of circles within circles—it evokes both wholeness and void. How does Le Morvan play with the dialectic between geometrical and organic form? Curator: Consider, too, that the act of photographing the moon was a scientific endeavor as much as a creative one. Each plate contributed to an extensive cataloguing effort, a kind of encyclopedic vision using cutting-edge technological innovation. What new perspectives on space and time could such technological innovations create at this time? Editor: The texture alone tells a story about space travel long before space travel happened. Look at the smoothness alongside such pitted ruggedness – all conjured with such mastery from the photographic printing process. It almost predicts the voyages of the twentieth century. Curator: Seeing it this way definitely allows a fresh way of understanding material limits while using innovative means to expand our reach, wouldn’t you agree? Editor: Absolutely, understanding the labor involved enriches the work so. And, of course, recognizing that what Le Morvan shows here challenges our notions of “landscape” and of representation itself. Curator: Agreed. And these perspectives truly reshape our understanding of material possibilities and aesthetic constraints of early twentieth century photography.