By collaging together individual photographs of small sections of the moon’s surface, the U.S. Geological Survey and NASA created this handcrafted topographical map two years before the first spaceflight landed humans on the moon. Though it was assembled expressly for scientific purposes, the map recalls the artistic practices of photomontage and collage and demonstrates that even the most functional uses of photography may result in compellingly conceptual, aesthetic compositions.

Additional text from

Seeing Through Photographs online course, Coursera, 2016

Medium Cut and stapled gelatin silver prints with ink and gouache on diazotype
Dimensions 14 1/2 × 30 3/8" (36.9 × 77.1 cm)
Credit John Parkinson III Fund
Object number 378.1992
Department Photography

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