Striking half plate modern daguerreotype of a full moon, executed by Santa Fe-based artist Robert Shlaer on The image captures the lunar surface in remarkable clarity and definition, with the cratered topography and shadowing rendered through the subtle mirror-like reflectivity unique to the daguerreotype process.

Shlaer is one of the most accomplished figures in the contemporary revival of 19th-century daguerreotypy. Originally trained as a theoretical biologist, he devoted himself entirely to the art of daguerreian image-making in 1987. His technical mastery and historical fidelity have earned him a central place in the modern movement to reintroduce the daguerreotype as a viable expressive medium. Shlaer’s celestial images—especially his moon and eclipse plates—stand as both scientific records and poetic meditations on photography’s earliest ambitions. A rare and luminous example from one of the most respected names in modern daguerreotypy.