Carte photographique de la lune, planche XVI.A (Photographic Chart of the Moon, plate XVI.A) Possibly 1904 - 1914

This photographic chart of the moon was made by Charles Le Morvan sometime between 1865 and 1933. It's a silvery crescent against an inky black, a landscape of dreams. Imagine Le Morvan, peering through the lens, patiently capturing light, mapping a world beyond our own. What was he thinking as he looked up at the moon? Did he feel like an explorer, charting new territory? Or was he simply driven by a love for the cosmos, a desire to understand the universe? The texture of the moon is really something. Those craters, each one a tiny universe in itself. The photograph feels solid, like you could reach out and touch the surface of the moon. I wonder if Le Morvan saw connections between the moon's landscape and earthly forms. Painters and photographers are always in conversation, I think, sharing and building on each other's ideas. This image invites us to approach the unknown with curiosity and wonder.