Description

Lynn Davis, known for surveys of natural and man-made wonders, has long been fascinated with the objects and venues of space exploration. Her photographs of the architectural icons, cornerstones, and abandoned sites of the space race reflect the many facets of a historically complex industry: the beginnings of space exploration; the changing nature of technology; and a fascination with otherworldly ruins. She emphasizes the bold modernism of these sites while evoking the presence of obsolete technologies.

Davis traveled to historic sites in Kazakhstan, Russia, Germany, French Guiana, and the United States. She received special permission to visit Baikonur in Kazakhstan, a leading launch site shrouded in secrecy since the 1950s, and her photographs offer one of the first inside glimpses of launches, transmission towers, fuel lines, and satellites.

About the Author

A graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute and former apprentice to Berenice Abbott, Lynn Davis has been a photographer for more than thirty years. Her prints are included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim Museum, and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art and J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Dallas Museum of Art; and Philadelphia Museum of Art. She is represented by Edwynn Houk Gallery in New York.

Alan Weisman is the best-selling author of The World Without Us (2007), a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. His writing has also appeared in Harper’s, the New York Times, Atlantic Monthly, the Los Angeles Times, and elsewhere.