Weekly News Roundup
Humans photograph the Moon, Salgado prints sell for six figures, and there is plenty happening in galleries and gear this week.
A big week. Artemis II returned from the Moon with 10,000 photographs. The Salgado auction closed in New York. Lee Miller opens in Paris. And there is new gear and exhibition news worth knowing about.
Artemis II Photographs the Moon — With a Ten Year Old Camera
NASA's Artemis II mission launched on April 1, flew around the far side of the Moon on April 6, and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on April 10. Four astronauts. Ten days. The first crewed mission to the Moon's vicinity in more than fifty years. And over 10,000 photographs.
The images that have come back are genuinely extraordinary. A solar eclipse photographed from deep space, the Moon fully blocking the Sun for nearly 54 minutes with the corona visible as a glowing halo around the dark lunar disk. An Earthrise deliberately echoing the Apollo 8 photograph from 1968, a crescent Earth emerging above the cratered lunar surface. Close-up crater detail shot handheld at 400mm. Earth setting behind the Moon's horizon. The Milky Way visible in a way it never is from the ground. These are not just record photographs. Some of them are remarkable images by any measure.
The gear story is worth noting separately. Despite this being the most photographed space mission in history the primary camera used was the Nikon D5, a body released in 2016. Alongside it were GoPro Hero action cameras from 2014. NASA's reasoning is straightforward. Reliability over specification. Tried and trusted over cutting edge. The Nikon D5 has performed flawlessly in the demanding environment of the International Space Station for years and NASA sees no reason to introduce uncertainty by upgrading.
It is a useful counterpoint to the constant upgrade pressure the photography industry generates. The most significant photographs made this week were made with cameras that are a decade old. Every image you have ever seen from space that moved you was made with whatever NASA trusted most at the time, not whatever was newest. The work matters more than the tool.
All of the Artemis II photographs are freely available on NASA's website and are worth looking at properly rather than in a social media feed.
Sebastião Salgado Auction Closes at Phillips New York
The largest single collection of Salgado's work ever offered at auction closed this week at Phillips in New York. Thirty signed lifetime prints spanning four decades. The Gold Mine portfolio of 20 prints documenting Serra Pelada in Brazil, where up to 50,000 men worked a single open pit with little more than their bodies in the mid-1980s, carried an estimate of $100,000 to $150,000. The Kuwait: A Desert on Fire portfolio documenting the blazing oil wells of the Gulf War was estimated at $60,000 to $80,000.
Every lot was a print made during Salgado's lifetime and signed by him. Now that he is gone no more will follow. The market has responded accordingly. We wrote about Salgado and what his work teaches photographers earlier this week. If you have not read that post it is worth your time.
Lee Miller Retrospective Opens at the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris
From April 10 to August 2 the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris is presenting the largest Lee Miller retrospective in France in twenty years. Around 250 vintage and modern prints, some never previously exhibited, covering the full arc of her extraordinary career. The exhibition was initiated by the Tate Britain in collaboration with the Art Institute of Chicago.
Miller is one of the most important photographers of the twentieth century and one of the most underrecognized. She began as a model and muse in the surrealist art world of 1920s Paris before picking up a camera and becoming one of the most significant photojournalists of the Second World War. She was present at the liberation of Dachau and Buchenwald. She photographed the fall of the Third Reich. She made a photograph of herself bathing in Hitler's bathtub in Munich on the day of his death, a date she later discovered was the same day as the liberation of the concentration camps.
If you are in Paris between now and August this is a non-negotiable visit. For everyone else the catalogue will be worth finding.
Viltrox Teasing New L-Mount Lenses Ahead of NAB Show
Viltrox has confirmed it will unveil new L-mount lenses at the NAB Show in Las Vegas later this month alongside an expansion of its cinema lens offering. No specific details have been released yet but the announcement itself is significant. Viltrox moving seriously into L-mount territory matters for photographers shooting with Leica SL, Panasonic S series, and Sigma fp bodies who want high quality glass at prices well below what the L-mount alliance manufacturers charge.
Viltrox has earned genuine credibility in the photography community over the past few years by delivering lenses that compete on optical merit rather than just undercutting on price. What they announce at NAB is worth paying attention to.
AIPAD Photography Show Opens in New York
The Photography Show presented by AIPAD opens April 22 at Park Avenue Armory in New York, running through April 26. One of the most significant fine art photography fairs in the world, bringing together leading galleries from across the US and internationally presenting work across vintage, modern, and contemporary photography.
For photographers interested in how the market values work, what galleries are championing, and what serious collectors are buying, AIPAD is one of the most useful events of the year to follow even if you cannot attend in person. Coverage from the show floor will start appearing next week and is worth reading.
Sigma Announces the 35mm f/1.4 DG II Art
Sigma has announced a redesigned version of its widely respected 35mm f/1.4 Art prime. The new Type II version is approximately 20 percent lighter than its predecessor with a revised optical formula and an updated autofocus system. Available for L-mount and Sony E-mount cameras.
The original 35mm f/1.4 Art was one of the lenses that established Sigma's reputation for serious optical quality at a price well below first-party glass. The Type II carries that legacy forward in a more portable package. For street and documentary photographers who want a fast 35mm with genuine character and optical performance the updated Art is going to be hard to look past. Pricing has not yet been confirmed.
Christie's Announces Major Thérond Collection Sale in Paris
Christie's has announced the upcoming sale of the Collection Roger Thérond, described as one of the most eagerly awaited events in the photography world, to be held in Paris in September 2026. The timing is deliberate. France is celebrating the bicentenary of the birth of photography this year and the Thérond collection, assembled by one of the great French champions of photography as art, is a fitting centerpiece for that anniversary.
Roger Thérond was editor of Paris Match for over three decades and spent those years building one of the most significant private photography collections in existence. The Christie's sale will be both a major commercial event and a cultural one. Details on the specific works included will emerge over the coming months. Worth watching.
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