To the Moon and Back
Written by Art EditorThis year’s Book Fair in Sweden is all about space, a perfect backdrop to celebrate some of the most iconic photographs in history—those first steps on the moon. They were all captured with a Hasselblad camera. The camera not only gave us stunning images of the moon, but it also showed us Earth in a way we’d never seen before.
“The exhibition is a short, four-day event, available during the Book Fair in Gothenburg. Don't miss it if you happen to be there!
You’ll get to see some historic NASA photos, actual moon cameras, and learn about the fascinating story of Erna and Victor Hasselblad. Plus, we’ve got contemporary photo artists showcasing their own visions of space in all kinds of creative ways. The exhibition dives deep into our ongoing fascination with the moon—its beauty and how it reminds us of our smallness in the vast universe. We’re also shining a light on the historical exclusion of women in astronomy, as well as raising questions about the role of photography and truth during the 1960s space race. There are also works that explore today’s goals of using the moon to monitor Earth.
Hasselblad: Then and Now
The Hasselblad story all started with Victor Hasselblad’s grandfather, Arvid Viktor Hasselblad, who in 1885 secured the rights to sell George Eastman’s photography products in Sweden—later known as Kodak. Victor Hasselblad took things further, creating the famous Victor Hasselblad AB company with his wife Erna. Both were nature lovers, and Victor was one of Sweden’s first bird photographers. It was this passion and the need for a high-quality, flexible camera that led to the development of the Hasselblad camera in the 1940s—the world’s first medium-format camera with interchangeable parts.”