Ranger 9 is the online presence of documentary fine art photographer J.L. Williams of Omaha, Nebraska, who writes:

Ranger 9's last picture, courtesy of NASA.

On the morning of Wednesday, March 24, 1965, my mother made an unusual exception to our routine, letting me be late for school so I could watch the end of an unusual television program: a broadcast of pictures sent back by NASA’s Ranger 9 spacecraft as it plunged on a collision course with the moon.

Space probes and telescopes had photographed the moon before, of course – but this was the first time the public had been able to watch TV images in real time. I remember being fascinated as the features of the lunar landscape rushed up on our black-and-white set, growing larger and more detailed… until suddenly, as part of a crater took shape, the screen went black. Ranger 9, its “photo assignment” completed, had crashed into its subject.

I remember being a bit sad to think that this little machine, so carefully constructed by so many caring people, could fulfill its purpose only by being destroyed.

Years later I chose it as an online emblem, as a cautionary reminder not to do the same thing myself.

About the Photographer:

J.L. Williams studied photojournalism under George Tuck and fine-art photography under James Alinder at the University of Nebraska.

Working as a daily-newspaper arts reporter introduced him to the inner world of dance and dancers, a subject that has been the primary focus of his work ever since.

Williams is a past president of the Omaha Modern Dance Collective, the Mid-America Dance Network, and the Artists’ Cooperative Gallery. His writing career includes a 20-year stint as the midwest correspondent for Dance Magazine, arts critic for the Metropolitan newspaper, and a now-inactive but still-available blog, art.rant.omaha. His performing-arts photography has appeared in publications including Dance Magazine, Opera News, and USA Today, and at exhibit venues including the Artists’ Cooperative Gallery and the Nebraska Governor’s Mansion.

Copyright Notice:

All content on this site is © J.L. Williams, all rights reserved.