Pacifica

Photo exhibit celebrates NASA's 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 landing

NBC Universal, Inc.

A Pacifica nature photographer filled half of his gallery with photographs he didn’t take, driven by a passion for space and the legacy of NASA Ames Research Center in the Bay Area.

“There’s something about these, there’s something about these that so far I haven’t been able to take it down,” said photographer Steve Johnson, talking about his exhibit of breathtaking NASA photographs celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing. 

He opened the exhibit in 2019, and three years, one pandemic, and a whole new body of work later, he can’t bear to take it down.

With newer technology, he’s able to showcase images captured decades ago.

“We build these machines that can not only look beyond distance by sending craft or incredible telescopes out, but they can see in infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths that we literally can not see,” he said.

Johnson’s love of space imagery is married with his love of nature in his exhibit “Otherworldly,” juxtaposing looks at deep space with extreme closeups of what surrounds us here on Earth.

“I had a wave of, 'My goodness, what a wonder,'” said Johnson. 

His gallery is open by appointment. Visit sjphoto.com for more information.

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