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Tell us about your book Infinite Worlds: the People and Places of Space Exploration?

Published by Simon & Schuster, Infinite Worlds: the People and Places of Space Exploration, is a coffee-table designed photography book of an historic era in the human and robotic exploration of space involving the Hubble Space Telescope.

In the annals of these kinds of books and American spaceflight, no photographer has ever been extended the degree of quality access into three NASA flight centers for nearly three years to reveal a portrayal of the astronaut crew that essentially saved the Hubble Space Telescope.

In addition to a Foreword by former Senator and legendary astronaut John Glenn, 18 unscripted self-written essays from the Hubble labor force and crew weave a narrative where I seek the humanity in both the human and robotic exploration of space.

How did you come to work in the field of space exploration photography?

I am a fine art documentary and portrait photographer whose interest is the human and robotic exploration of space.

I studied to be a planetary geologist but discovered that I was more interested in the visual qualities of the field rather than impersonal chemistry labs and calculus classes! Once I earned my MFA (Master of Fine Arts) in photography I became an editorial fashion and documentary travel photographer.  I worked in Brazil, Italy and New York.   Over the years I collected, edited and studied decades of space-themed images for my own interest and for various publications, and that led me to more substantive portrait and documentary work on American space exploration.

In 2004 I photo-edited and co-authored What’s Out There – a visually themed index on astronomical phenomena – and I even got Stephen Hawking to write the Foreword.  While working on documenting the people and places of NASA’s New Horizons mission to the Pluto system in 2005, I discovered that the servicing mission to the Hubble would be reinstated.

Ultimately, Infinite Worlds evolved out of these chance occurrences. History was unfolding and I wanted to discover the meaning and art in human and robotic spaceflight.

How and why did you begin documenting the effort of those prepping for the last Hubble servicing mission?

I didn’t begin this project with a book in mind. It began as an editorial story for Discover magazine that started with an unprecedented three-hour portrait session of the STS125 shuttle crew.  From that I earned the trust of the crew as well as the NASA engineers and scientists who were creating, training and managing this multi-year mission to save the Hubble.

As a photographer what inspires you?

I would point to Kubrick’s “2001, a Space Odyssey” as a transcendent life experience.  My inspiration for Infinite Worlds was a product of many interests (films, short stories, music, history of art and photography, science) and a personality driven to always want to be behind the scenes.

As a photographer, my early influences continue to be my inspiration: the works of Cartier-Bresson, August Sander, Aaron Siskind, Walker Evans and Irving Penn.

What did you find to be most challenging about putting together a book of this nature?

The time, patience and discipline to know why I wanted to tell this story, as well as being able to edit 3 years worth of work into a visually coherent narrative.

How did you compile the essays? Why did you decide to include them?

The notion for stories written by various individuals in the shuttle and Hubble labor force was influenced by Working, a remarkable book written in 1972 by the Chicago based broadcaster Studs Terkel.  He wrote about people talking about their work and how they felt about doing it, an approach that felt like verbal snapshots.  As I got to know the people behind the STS125 mission better I would often find myself in a discussion with one of the crew and support staff.   I loved hearing them speak about their work in an unscripted way.

During the subsequent months when I was beginning the daunting task of editing years of photographs, the notion of individuals from the labor force writing their own story became a significant element in planning Infinite World’s narrative.  The 18 story-tellers recalled many common memories and had many individual stores, but the common thread was the need to make a contribution to an end result larger than themselves.

Based on your experience please describe what goes into getting a book published? 

Tenacity is crucial. Although I had a project based on exclusive access, I needed to know my story and that took about two years to develop. I also needed a marketing plan – to identify my audience and what my plan would be for exhibitions and magazine articles. A New York-based literary agent was critical to having the contacts at the various publishing houses. My initial proposals were ultimately shot down.

This caused me to look at myself and think about how I could tell this story in a more compelling way.  Seeing Hertzog’s “Cave of Forgotten Dreams” — a documentary film about the oldest human-painted images in the Chauvet Cave of France, as well as my documentation of the space shuttle’s flame trench beneath its launch pad, helped to reveal the narrative sub-text: time, distance and light.

About a year and a half later Simon & Schuster made an offer. Creating the book took two years. It involved collaborating with the production department to achieve the quality we ultimately experience in Infinite Worlds. It also involved an enormous amount of work with my editor, the art department, copy editor and the marketing and promotion folks.

Realizing the mutual marketing benefits, photo industry support was critical. As a result, I am grateful for Canon, Moab Paper, Eizo, Chimera Lighting and liveBooks.

How has your website helped your business? How has it helped this project?

I chose liveBooks because I could have a custom designed site and a web hosting relationship responsive to my evolving communication needs.  I couldn’t be happier with the collaboration and the responses I receive from the print and electronic media, aerospace industry and art community.  Currently Infinite Worlds is my most visible project, so design flexibility to respond to the marketing of my book was essential and liveBooks provides that flexibility.

What other events are you doing in conjunction with the book release? 

There are many events that will provide varying degrees of visibility.  The holiday season and the run up to and through the 25th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope in April 2015 will provide many public and exhibition venues.

My ten-year project portraying the people and places of NASA’s New Horizon’s Pluto mission will come to it’s crescendo beginning in spring 2015 when the probe passes within thousands of miles of Pluto and its moons. I’ll be there photographing the project scientists and flight controllers.

In addition I will be speaking at the IMAX theater at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science on January 21st, the National Air & Space Museum on February 13th and the Smithsonian Institute on April 11th. Exhibitions of my work are currently at the Kennedy Space Center’s Atlantis pavilion, in Hubble @25 at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, and in Outside the Spaceship: 50 years of Extra-Vehicular Activity.

Additional information on media and events may be found on my (liveBooks) custom designed website www.michaelsoluri.com.