Moonset in City of Rocks, matt Kowal, City of Rocks, Idaho
5/31 - 6/4, Dustin Shores, Norfolk, VA
I have been making these images of the moon since my son was born in 2018. They only exist on my computer’s hard drive. I look at them often to remind me of how much time has passed since he was born. When i started making them, I must have been looking for something to ground me. So, it’s interesting to consider that I ended up photographing the moon.
Selection from the Digital Archive
Left: From this time last year, Covid Moon, Liz Deschenes, New York City, NY.
Right: Lisa McCarty, Boston, MA.
Matt Steele, Yosemite National Park
Jack the Tennessee Walker, Cassidy, Sullivan, Cattlesburg, KY
Two-minute Excerpt: Moon Eluding Capture
2022
Multi-channel video
13:33
Large-scale install sketch (at SF MOMA): Bad Moon Photos,
2023
4x6” Machine C-Prints, inkjet prints on archival adhesive fabric, “Inverse-sky yellow” Custom latex paint
Site-specific dimensions & installation
It’s nearly impossible to take a ‘good’ photograph of the moon with my cell phone but this doesn’t stop me from trying. I’m not alone in this act. In the Summer of 2021, I began collecting bad cell-phone photos of the moon taken by colleagues, friends, family members, lovers, and strangers. This collection of photographs is an ongoing archive that contains every image that was contributed. In our attempts to preserve and capture through photography, we inevitably reduce and compress the vast objects of our love and longing. An oblong spot of bright blob in a field of black or a tiny spec of white (is that dust?) in a field of blue, the results are perfectly terrible and despite our failure, we can’t help but keep trying.
All are invited to contribute their images via Instagram (@bad.moon.photos) or email: arielcwilson<at>gmail.com.
Contributions to date from:
Olivia Arratia
Melissa Barry
Bryni Balt
Edward Bateman
Logan Bellew
Katelyn Bladel
Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo
Maryssa Rose Chavez
Michael Clawson
Anna Clay
Gail Coleman
Garrett Collier
Kelly MacKenzie Cork
Chloë Courtney
Liz Deschenes
Moultrie Dotterer
Kelly Erickson Albonico
Cambo Ferrante
Emily Fong
Gaylord Paul Garcia
Gray
Amy Hallal
Andrew Hallal
Jory Hanselman Mayschak
Vannah Henry
Daniel Hojnacki
Deborah Hunter
Amy Johnson
Nick Johnson
Leanasha Jones
Matt Kowal
Pedro Lapa
Alex Lukas
m_M<M
Allie Mack
Sarah Matthes
Lisa McCarty
Hannah McDermott
Lucy McDermott
Sarah McDermott
Briana Menchaca
Will Meyers
Analise Minjarez
Hollis Moore
A. Ross Morales
Sarah Nance
Juan Alberto Negroni
Alexandra Opie
Kate M. Overton
Melissa Prosser
Kristen Roles
Ayta Samadli
Karina Scalisi
Sallie Scheufler
Dustin Shores
Nick Simko
Ivette Spradlin
Matt Steele
Dayna Stimson
Cassidy Sullivan
Sarah Sweeney
Haileyrose Thoma
Lucas Tseh
Nicholas Valdés
Joel Wadsworth
Alaina Wilson
Maddox Wilson
Jini Wilson
Bianca Wingard
Tyler Wolz
Sue Wrbican
Peter Yeo
Alfredo Zuñiga
Annonymous