Scott Carpenter's Guest Essay #10

A Search for the Rare:
J. L. Pickering and Retro Space Images
by J. L. Pickering, Retro Space Images

Thirty-five years have passed since a NASA 8x10 print first landed in my mailbox. I was a sophomore in high school. That beautiful black & white glossy—showing Apollo 15 astronaut Jim Irwin during a training session—was the beginning of personal archive—mine—that now contains nearly 50,000 images. With the digital age in full swing, add another 60,000 hi-resolution scans to the total number.  

My acquisition of that first print, in 1973, grew out of a relentless barrage of letters to a Cocoa Beach magazine entitled Florida’s Space Coast, a tourist publication that caught my eye because of its extensive use of seldom-seen images. Decisions made by an unknown photo-layout editor caused me to wonder how many NASA images had never seen the light of day. A trip to NASA Headquarters a couple of years later confirmed my hunch. But trips to any NASA archive are eye-openers—for the uninitiated and veteran researcher alike.

The average space enthusiast can look at launch photos (or images of other mission events) and probably be satisfied. My research and collecting path, however, led me to realize that dozens of interesting (and rarely seen) photos were sometimes better than those released by NASA office of public affairs. And these alternative images languish in NASA files and archives. So the driving force behind my acquisitions for many years has been this hunt for the rare or unusual. For example, whenever I see a great shot of a crew posing or working together, I immediately imagine the photos taken just before or after. They may have been just as good, or more interesting. These are the images I look for.

Probably the most important development in my field over the past five years has been the digital scan and repair of vintage photos. Many of the images in my collection were stored in an unfriendly environment that caused colors to shift or otherwise damaged the photograph. This is particularly true of transparencies and negatives. The proper use of a good scanner can restore what appeared to be an unusable photograph—in ways never imagined years ago.

I know from my conversations with colleagues that the restoration of vintage images can be a controversial practice. My view is pragmatic and conservative: in the first place, I never alter the original vintage photograph itself but restore and balance colors in the digital image in a manner I judge to be faithful to the original. It should also be noted that NASA prints and negatives at the public affairs level are not exempt from dust and scratches. Here, too , powerful digital tools now at our disposal can contribute greatly to the repair of historic images.

When you love your work, you want to share it with others. So after a laborious scan-and-repair operation of my private collection, I gradually came to the conclusion that it might be of interest to others. Retrospaceimages.com is the result.

At present I have compiled hi-resolution image libraries for nine missions from the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo era; this work will continue until the M-G-A sets are complete. As something of a slave to my scanner, I have been extremely gratified to hear words of praise from fellow space enthusiasts. Of particular satisfaction to me are the appreciative reviews from astronauts, many of whom have said they had never seen a number of the photographs in my collection.

A word about another terrific photo-collection effort. My good friend and fellow collector, Ed Hengeveld, has worked tirelessly on documenting the Space Shuttle missions, leading efforts to document the early STS missions after space enthusiasts realized with consternation that hi-resolution online images were relatively scarce. Ed and I have worked to fill that void with the completions of STS-1 thru STS-41B image discs. (Please visit us at Retro Space Images for ordering information.)

Over the years I have had the pleasure of meeting many NASA photographers and press representatives, all of whom provided copious material, expert guidance, and wonderful stories. I am also grateful to fellow enthusiasts. Of particular note is the late Herb Desind. A science teacher in Laurel, Maryland, Herb maintained a peerless private collection of 100,000 prints, which he kept in dozens of file cabinets (see this collectSpace announcement on the Desind family bequest to the National Air and Space Museum). Herb enlisted me to help in his ongoing quest for photos that, in turn, opened a number of doors for me. He was a great inspiration, and since his passing in 1992 I have missed his unique views on spaceflight history.

—J. L. Pickering, Retro Space Images