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A dazzling photographic inventory of the Space Shuttle Program, from the author of Interior Space
Orbital Planes is Roland Miller's intimate photographic view of the Space Shuttle Program. It explores the Space Shuttle orbiters--both inside and out--along with related facilities, including rocket engine test sites, Solid Rocket Booster and External Tank manufacturing facilities, orbiter manufacturing and maintenance facilities, launch sites and more. Miller started photographing the Space Shuttle in 1988, and began his focused work for Orbital Planes in 2008, continuing for the duration of the Space Shuttle Program.
Through a combination of documentary and abstract photographs made around the US, Orbital Planes tells an expansive story of the Space Shuttle Program in a visually arresting style, describing the distinctive design of these spacecraft and the facilities where they were maintained and launched. The drama and danger of spaceflight are seen in the wear and tear visible on the orbiters. The book also chronicles the story of Miller's interactions with Space Shuttle workers and the impacts of the Challenger and Columbia accidents.
A Chicago native, Roland Miller (born 1958) taught photography at Brevard Community College in Cocoa, Florida, for 14 years, where he began photographing nearby NASA launch sites. Miller's project and book, Abandoned in Place: Preserving America's Space History (University of New Mexico Press, 2016), documents deactivated and repurposed space launch and test facilities around the US. His collaborative project and book, Interior Space: A Visual Exploration of the International Space Station (Damiani, 2020), with Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli, examines the interior of the International Space Station. His photographs are part of permanent collections at the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago and the NASA Art Collection in Washington, DC. Miller's work has been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and National Geographic UK.
Roland Miller
Roland Miller, a Chicago native, worked in higher education for 30 years, first as a photography professor and later as dean. Miller's book Abandoned in Place: Preserving America's Space History documents deactivated space launch and test facilities around the United States. Miller's collaborative project and book with Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli, Interior Space: A Visual Exploration of the International Space Station, documents the interior of the International Space Station. Miller's photographs are in numerous permanent collections, including those of the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago and the NASA Art Collection in Washington, DC. Miller's photographs have been exhibited in major art and science museums, including the Galleria del Cembalo in Rome, Italy. His work has been featured in major publications, including the New York Times and National Geographic UK.
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