Harold Edgerton - Seeing the Unseen

William Edgerton_ Bullet_Through_Apple

Even if you don’t recognize the name Harold Edgerton, you know at least one of his photographs. It is an image of what looks like a smooth, white crown lying on a plain of red. One small white sphere hovers overhead.
Ron Kurtz states in his intro to the book, “Recently, Time magazine declared Edgerton’s color “Milk Drop Coronet” to be one of the 100 most influential photographs of all time.”
He goes on to say, “I believe Edgerton helped define a novel and important relationship between science and art in our times. His inventions changed the world of photography.”
Deborah G. Douglasin her essay says, “His tools and techniques transformed entire professions from sports photography to maritime archaeology.” Harold Edgerton was an engineer, educator, explorer, entrepreneur, as well as a revolutionary photographer—in the words of his former student and Life photographer Gjon Mili, “an American original.” Edgerton’s photos combine exceptional engineering talent with aesthetic sensibility, and this book presents more than 100 of his most exemplary works.
Seeing the Unseen” contains iconic photos from the beloved milk drops and bullets slicing through fruit and cards, to less well known but equally compelling images of sea creatures and sports figures in action. Paired with excerpts from Edgerton’s laboratory notebooks, the book reveals the full range of his technical virtuosity and his enthusiasm for the natural and human-built worlds. The book also contains personal memories of studying and working with Edgerton by J. Kim Vandiver and Gus Kayafas and historical essays by Gary Van Zante and Deborah G. Douglas.


William_Edgerton

William_Edgerton

William_Edgerton

Photos:
Bullet through apple, 1964, Paper mill worker, 1937, Water flowing from a faucet, 1932, Milk drop coronet, 1957

The facts:
Harold Edgerton: Seeing the Unseen
Published by Steidl
edited by Ron Kurtz, Deborah G. Douglas, and Gus Kayafas
with essays by Deborah G. Douglas, Gus Kayafas, J. Kim Vandiver, Gary Van Zante Steidl
Published in collaboration with the MIT Museum

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