The early astrophysicist and self-publicist extraordinaire Norman Lockyer frequently used the journal Nature, which he had help found in 1869 and edited until his death in 1920, to expound his own theories, report on his work and send news home while on expeditions. He (like others) also very frequently reused his visual materials in other periodicals and books, for lectures or exhibitions. I look into the particular visual culture developed by Lockyer in Nature, its evolution through time (at a time of rapid development of techniques of photographic reproduction) and in comparison with other periodicals and practitioners, in order to estimate the extent to which he made his mark (or failed to) on an emerging visual culture characteristic of the new field of astrophysics through his control of one important periodical of the time. The circulation of images across print media, exhibitions and performances reproduced and multiplied the city- and world-wide circulation of Lockyer himself, helping consolidate his persona and the identity of his burgeoning field.