Introduction
Interior Space – A Visual Exploration of the International Space Station: Photographs by Paolo Nespoli and Roland Miller
We are thrilled to premiere this exceptional body of work by Roland Miller and Paolo Nespoli. The photos provide unique insight into the cultural landscape generated by astronauts, scientists and visitors on the International Space Station. At the same time the works constitute a first attempt to co-create photography of this environment by an artist on earth and an astronaut inhabiting this most remarkable milestone in the development of human capabilities for living in space. With 20 years of ongoing habitation, the superstructure continues to set the standards in space occupancy from being the largest space craft ever constructed, having hosted around 40% of all space travelers to the costliest space endeavor with some estimates as high as $150 billion. The images are witness to the reality of space life from fixing objects to walls with Velcro to keep them from floating around the station to the awe-inspiring view from the station's cupola, its main observation window, onto earth or into the depths of space. The reception on November 2nd, 2020, coincides with the 20-year anniversary of human habitation of ISS.Roland Miller, a Chicago native, studied photography at Utah State University earning his B.F.A. and M.F.A. degrees. For 14 years, he taught photography at Brevard Community College (now Eastern Florida State College) in Cocoa, Florida, where he was first exposed to many nearby NASA launch sites. He then taught at the College of Lake County in Grayslake, Illinois for six years before becoming dean of its Communication Arts, Humanities and Fine Arts division in 2008. Miller retired from higher education in 2018 to work full-time on his aerospace photography.
Paolo Nespoli is an Italian astronaut and engineer of the European Space Agency (ESA). In 2007, he first traveled into space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery as a mission specialist of STS-120. In December 2010 he again traveled into space aboard the Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft as an Expedition 26/27 flight engineer. Nespoli's third spaceflight was on board Soyuz MS-05, which launched in July 2017 for Expedition 52/53. He received his bachelor's degree in Aerospace engineering in 1988 and his master's degree in 1989 in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Polytechnic University in New York.
We are grateful to the artists Paolo Nespoli and Roland Miller for entrusting us with their extraordinary work and want to thank Justin Walsh, Lia Halloran and Julie Shafer for their support of our virtual presentation.