Gazing Upwards
Gazing Upwards presentation at the MIT Museum
Babak Tafreshi (right) and myself at Gazing Upwards
Gazing Upwards was a speaking event held at the MIT Museum in Cambridge, MA on Saturday, March 2nd, 2024. The event featured presentations by National Geographic night sky photographer Babak Tafreshi on the importance of preserving the connection between humanity and the natural night sky and myself on the persistent beauty of the urban night sky despite light pollution.
Celestial City
Opening reception of Celestial City
Celestial City exhibit space
Celestial City was the first solo, in-person exhibit of my urban astrophotography work. The exhibit was held from March 1-31, 2024 in the Wiesner Student Art Gallery at MIT and an opening reception was held on March 1. The following is an excerpt of the exhibit's overview:
"Celestial City is an exploration of the familiar from a new perspective. Few think of photographing astronomical objects in urban, light polluted environments. However, from the vantage point of MIT campus rooftops above street-level light pollution and with specialized photography equipment, the night skies of Cambridge and Boston can be captured in all their glory. The stars, moon, planets, International Space Station, eclipses, meteors, and nebulae are captured in their choreographed celestial dance over the hustle and bustle of city life..."
Photographing the Urban Night Sky Course
Star trail composite image of course attendees on an MIT campus building rooftop
Lectures were delivered during each course meeting
Photographing the urban night sky was a three-part, sold-out course that I taught through the MIT Museum in November 2022. The course covered the basics of planning, capturing, and editing photographs of the night sky under light polluted skies and enabled attendees to practice these skills on an MIT campus building rooftop.