Boy with Flying Bat, Dr. Harold Eugene Edgerton

Artwork Overview

Boy with Flying Bat, Dr. Harold Eugene Edgerton
Boy with Flying Bat, Dr. Harold Eugene Edgerton
Dr. Harold Eugene Edgerton
Boy with Flying Bat
before 1980
Dr. Harold Eugene Edgerton, artist
1903–1990
Boy with Flying Bat, before 1980
Where object was made: United States
Material/technique: gelatin silver print
Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 24.7 x 19.6 cm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 9 3/4 x 7 11/16 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 19 x 14 in
Credit line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Richard F. Young
Accession number: 1986.0246
Not on display
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Collection Cards: Animals

This photograph shows the motion of a bat flying near a boy. Usually, a photograph would not be able to catch the movements of the bat’s wings as it flies. This photographer, Dr. Harold Edgerton, created a method using strobe lights to "freeze" action in photographs. A strobe is a flashing light, or a light that blinks on and off repeatedly. Edgerton’s photographs depict the individual motions of things as they move—motions that would normally be so fast that they could not be seen with the naked eye. This technology is a great way to study how things move.

If you could take photographs like Edgerton did, what would you want to photograph?