Is there only one photograph of Neil Armstrong on the Moon?

Question

Christie's is a famous auction house. In their press release and marketing material, Christie's Voyage to Another World: The Victor Martrin-Malburet Photograph Collection, you can find the following claims

Lot 345, The only photograph of Neil Armstrong on the Moon, July 16-24,1969. BUZZ ALDRIN [APOLLO 11]. Estimate: £30,000-50,000

They go on to repeat that claim in the text,

These rare pictures lay uncelebrated for decades, such as the first photograph of Earthrise, the only photograph of Neil Armstrong on the Moon and incredible panoramas taken by each of the 12 astronauts who walked on the Moon.

Of all the photos taken on the moon, is there only one with Neil Armstrong? Is he in the periphery of another, or are there other photos of Neil? Or, is this claim true?

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Christie's claim is that this picture is the only picture of Neil Armstrong on the moon,

Answer 1

Here's another photo of Neil Armstrong on the Moon:

_{Half resolution version of the original as released by NASA due to file size limits here at SE}

He's resting inside the LEM after his and Buzz Aldrin's historic moonwalk. He appears to be both elated and exhausted after making history in a way no other person ever has. The LEM is still parked on the Moon's surface. Just as a pilot sitting in an airplane on a taxiway is said to be "sitting on the tarmac" while awaiting takeoff, Armstrong is "sitting on the Moon" inside the LEM.

Here's a cropped and exposure corrected version released by NASA:

_{One-quarter resolution of the original released by NASA due to size limits here at SE}

Here's a single frame from a 16mm timelapse movie that was taken by Buzz Aldrin from inside the LEM at the beginning of Armstrong's moonwalk before Aldrin also emerged from the LEM and joined Neil outside.

This is a frame grab from the television camera mounted on one of the LEM's lander legs that beamed a live signal back to Earth as Armstrong descended the ladder before setting foot on the moon for the first time in human history:

There's at least one other photo that shows a silhouette of Armstrong's helmet and part of his right shoulder in the deep shadow under the LEM in the far corner of a photo taken by Aldrin to document an equipment bay on the LEM's landing stage.

And of course, here's what is probably the most recognizable photograph in the history of the human race:

One can see a reflection of Neil Armstrong, along with parts of the LEM and some of the other scientific items they've placed on the Moon's surface around the LEM at Tranquility Base, taking Buzz Aldrin's photo on the front of Colonel Aldrin's face shield.

But that's neither here nor there.

• The photo described by Christie's as "The only photograph of Neil Armstrong on the Moon" has been referred to in this way since 1987.
• The fuller description of the photo was "the only 70mm full body photograph of Neil Armstrong on the Moon." 70mm describes the film format size used by the customized version of the Hasselblad 500C cameras used on the Apollo 11 moonwalk.
• When anyone familiar with the history of the Apollo program hears the expression "the only photograph of Neil Armstrong on the Moon" they know exactly which photograph is being referenced.
• The very limited number of other photos of Neil Armstrong taken during his EVA on the Moon's surface are either reflections off of other objects, video or movie frame grabs, or captures of small parts of his spacesuit in deep shadows that would not be identifiable at all except for the fact that the only other human being (and space suit, occupied or otherwise) within range of the camera's resolution limits was the photographer, Buzz Aldrin.
• Until 1987, when it was conclusively established that the photo Christie's describes as The Only Photo of Neil Armstrong on the Moon contains a full bodied image of Neil Armstrong, he often stated unequivocally that none of the photos taken during his EVA on the Moon's surface were of himself. The well-known photo he took of Buzz Aldrin had been publicly released for almost two decades at that time. This demonstrates that Neil Armstrong himself did not consider the photo he took of Buzz Aldrin that included a small reflection of himself while taking the photo to be a photo of Neil Armstrong.

So is this photo the only photograph that contains an image of Neil Armstrong on the surface of the Moon?

Not really.

But it is the singular photograph that has been titled for over thirty years as:

"The Only Photograph of Neil Armstrong on the Moon"

Answer 2

TL;DR: No, there is at least another pohoto, AS11-40-5894, but we figured that out only in 1994, and the other photo is of poorer quality.

From NASA (emphasis mine):

AS11-40-5886 (OF300) ( 1016k or 155k )

110:31:47 Rightward of 5885. This frame from Buzz's plus-Z pan is the only good Hasselblad picture of Neil on the lunar surface. Eric Nelson has produced an enhance version ( 320k ) of the portion of the image that includes the flag, the SWC, and Neil at the MESA. A closer detail ( 195k ) shows Neil packing the bulk sample with an open rockbox on the MESA table. See the discussion following 110:31:47.

Clicking on provides:

For many years after the mission, NASA contended that Buzz never had the camera and, consequently, never took a picture of Neil. In fact, frame 5886 from Buzz's plus-Z pan shows Neil at the MESA. An extensive discussion with Neil and Buzz about this photo and about NASA's mis-conceptions about who had the camera at this time is linked below.

A thorough discussion of AS11-40-5886 is linked here

Where we find:

In late 1986 I was informed by Neil Armstrong's office that he believed the photo of himself in the background lay between frames 5875-5901. In May 1987 after studying a copy of the 'Apollo 11 70mm Photographic catalog' sent to him by Lee Saegesser (NASA HQ History Office) Armstrong confirmed to me that 5886 was the one.

As Weather Vane pointed out in the comments, on photo AS11-40-5894 we find:

AS11-40-5894 (OF300) ( 1827k or 232k )

110:34:13 This underexposed picture of the Ascent Stage shows Neil at the MESA (lower left corner). The fact that Neil is in this picture was first noticed by Apollo historian Andrew Chaikin. See, also, a detail of Neil. An enhanced version of the detail by Ulli Lotzmann shows that Neil has his side visor pulled forward and that his gold visor is up.

And at the marked time:

In 1994, Andrew Chaikin pointed out to me that Neil can be seen at the MESA in the deep shadow at the lower left in 5894. A detail shows Neil at the MESA. An enhanced version by Ulli Lotzmann shows that Neil has his side visor down and his gold visor up

Answer 3

Yes, this description is essentially correct in the sense that there is no other photograph like it. (The complete set of Apollo 11 photographs are here if you want to double check https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/images11.html)

Whether you technically consider the description 100% accurate depends on what you mean with "photograph of X in location Y". To settle whether the above claim is misleading I suggest analyzing what kind of photographs people would typically describe as a photograph of "Uncle Mike in Italy". For example, most people would not consider a photograph in which a small reflection of uncle Mike is visible in a mirror in front of the coliseum to fall in that category. Similarly, a portrait shot of uncle Mike sitting in his car without any visible clues as to the location of the car would typically not be chosen as a good example of "Uncle Mike in Italy" although technically correct. Similarly, the individual still frames of video are not generally considered as photographs, even though there is a technical definition which would include such.

In summary, the description of Christie's is a shorthand for "This is the only high resolution photograph of Neil Armstrong on the moon, in which he is clearly visible and the moon can be seen". Whether the omission of the qualifying statements is misleading is necessarily somewhat subjective. Until someone does an independent study of showing people the "other photographs of Neil Armstrong on the moon" that could technically qualify and asking them whether they consider this to be a photograph of Neil Armstrong on the moon, I would argue that the omission of the qualifier is not misleading by typical standards.