“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20, 1969, this installation in the History of Photography Gallery examines the intersecting histories of photography and space exploration. A source of artistic inspiration, scientific inquiry, and popular fascination, the moon has long been an important subject of visual culture since before the invention of photography. This selection of objects from the photography collection ranges from stereoscopic views made through a telescope, amateur snapshots, and scientific documents to artworks by Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, Ansel Adams, László Moholy-Nagy, and Linda Connor, among others.

This rotation in the History of Photography Gallery was co-curated by Lisa Hostetler, curator in charge of the Department of Photography; Tracy Stuber, Kress Interpretive Fellow; and students in the master’s program in Photographic Preservation and Collection Management Sarah Brody, Delaney Duvall Linehan, and Candice Yates.

These playlists features songs inspired by the photographs in the current History of Photography rotation, plus one bonus track. To follow along, start at the beginning and move clockwise through the exhibition. The first playlist was inspired by the first fourteen photographs, and the second by the remaining eleven.