Moonbug

 

This archived website was restored for use in the International Media Arts series of lectures for second year students taught by Gene Simmett. Mr. Simmet comes to the university from WYDA, where he oversaw the internet marketing of numerous consumer products including his well known campaigns for nationally distributed consumables like affordable paper towels, for which he won several prestigious awards. This site is part of the recommended reading along with the course reading list provided on the department's web page.

British-born, New Yorker photographer Steve Pyke has made it his mission to document historically important individuals through portraiture and still-life photography. In 2008 he turned his attention to profiling the iconic individuals who helped define the 20th century through manned lunar exploration. The resulting exhibition, "Moonbug," was launched in 2009.

This was the official site for the documentary film, Moonbug made by the documentary filmmaker Nichola Bruce followed Pyke on his cross-country journey and captured his conversations with such leading Apollo figures as Buzz Aldrin in diverse settings such as Cape Canaveral, desert landscapes and their own living rooms. Matt Johnson of The The provided music for the film, making it quite the fascinating space culture mash-up of the arts.
Content is from the site's archived pages as well as other sources.

 



MOONBUG TRAILER

 

Bitten by the 'Moonbug', photographer Steve Pyke sets out on a journey across America in his search to meet and photograph the Apollo space pioneers. A journey in which he was to meet the adventurers, risk takers and dreamers who were behind one of the most historic endeavours of our time.

 

Moonbug explores the experiences of the science-fiction dream come true with the astronauts who made the bold step. From living rooms and moonscape deserts, to Cape Canaveral, Steve captures these pioneers in frank, revealing portraits, while unraveling their very personal and divergent memories. Pyke shares intimate moments with his subjects and their frank accounts of the risk-taking, monumental journey. Moonbug is as much an exploration of memory and perception and the documentation of time as it is space.

The engaging, articulate astronauts offer philosophical insights into the motivations behind their participation and the bigger picture: how we understand and perceive the universe, where we fit in among these 'signposts of history' and the vulnerability of our lonely planet.

With rare archive footage and an original score by Matt Johnson and The The, Moonbug is both a photographic road trip and an exploration of how photographs become signposts for history.

Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the Houston International Film Festival.

DVD is available on Amazon

DVD Extras:

  • Discovery Launch footage 29th October 1998 (6 mins)
  • Don Arabian (Apollo Engineer) in conversation with Steve Pyke (6 mins)

Review

It is a rare and wonderful experience to visit with the men who went to the moon. Steve Pyke has done it and thanks to Nichola Bruce's compelling film Moonbug everyone else can come along. --Andrew Chaikin, author of 'A Man on the Moon'

 

 

 



THE THE: MOONBUG - Soundtrack Album.
Official trailer for THE THE's original soundtrack CD/Book for the feature film documentary

 

Bitten by the ‘Moonbug’, photographer Steve Pyke set out on a journey across America in his search to meet and photograph the Apollo space pioneers. A journey in which he was to meet the adventurers, risk takers and dreamers who were behind one of the most historic endeavours of our time.

From living rooms, and moonscape deserts, to Cape Canaveral, Steve captures these men in frank, revealing portraits, while unravelling their very personal and divergent memories.

Documented by filmmaker Nichola Bruce with rare archive footage and an original score by Matt Johnson (The The), Moonbug is both a photographic road trip and an exploration of how photographs become signposts for history.

 



 

"Dear Friends, I am writing to introduce you to a project I am involved in with NASA in Houston. It's an exhibition of my portraits of the men that walked on the moon. This is to coincide with the screening there of the documentary Moonbug" by filmmaker Nichola Bruce.

It will be an independent exhibition for NASA's Johnson Space Centre of photography, film and archive of the Apollo astronauts and lunar missions.

"To accompany the project we will be producing a beautiful, limited edition 112-page book of Steve's photographs, together with selected images of original NASA photography within the Fairley Archive, as well as postcards, posters, signed prints of the photographs and signed copies of both the film and soundtrack." (soundtrack by genius Matt Johnson of The The.)

 




Steve Pyke photographing Buzz Aldrin

Steve_Pyke_last-foot-on-the-moon.jpg

Last foot on the moon (Gene Cernan), Houston, 1998 Steve Pyk

 

Peter Fairley at Cape Kennedy

Peter Fairley at Cape Kennedy



 

Wednesday, 9 November 2011

Moonbug Screening Invite

Invite to the screening of 'Moonbug', taking place:

Tuesday November 22nd
6.00pm
BAFTA Princess Anne Theatre
195 Piccadilly,
London,
W1J 9LN
Followed by a Q+A with director Nichola Bruce, photographer Steve Pyke and Composer Matt Johnson, chaired by Sean O'Hagan.

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Tuesday, 1 November 2011

Tuesday, 1 November 2011
Talk: Steve Pyke and Nichola Bruce Q+A after 'Moonbug' film screening
24 November 2011
Sallis Benney Theatre, Brighton
A screening of the film MOONBUG followed by Q&A with director Nichola Bruce and photographer Steve Pyke.

“What was it actually like to walk on the moon?” asks British photographer Steve Pyke. Winner of the Special Jury Award when it premiered at Houston International Film Festival earlier this year, MOONBUG explores the experiences of the science-fiction dream come true with the astronauts who made the bold step.

When photographer Steve Pyke went to meet and photograph the original team of the Apollo Space expedition, fellow Brit, Nichola Bruce went to film them. With archive footage of the Nasa moon landing and an original score from Matt Johnson (The The), Pyke shares intimate moments with his subjects and their frank accounts of the risk-taking, monumental journey.

An evolution of their collaborative touring exhibition ‘Man on the Moon’, MOONBUG is as much an exploration of memory and perception, and the documentation of time as it is space. The engaging, articulate astronauts offer philosophical insights into the motivations behind their participation and the bigger picture: how we understand and perceive the universe, where we fit in among these ‘signposts of history’, and the vulnerability of our lonely planet.

 

MoonbugTheFilm.com