Getty Museum
The Splash of a Bullet (Act One)
Creator
Harold EdgertonAmerican Photographer · 1903–1990
All works by this person →> Don't make me out an artist. I'm an engineer. I'm after the facts. Only the facts. Harold "Doc" Edgerton learned photography from an uncle in Aurora, Nebraska, during his high school years. Setting up a darkroom in his parents' kitchen, Edgerton went to work during the summer for the Nebraska Power and Light Company. In 1925 he received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and went to w
More on Getty ULAN- Date
- about 1930s
- Medium
- Gelatin silver print
- Culture
- American
- Department
- Photographs
- Institution
- Getty Museum
Of this series of three images of a bullet shot through a block of steel, Harold Edgerton stated: "This has never been seen before. Exposure: 1/1,000,000 of a second. When a .22 bullet strikes a steel block, it apparently liquifies from the force of the impact and splashes in a manner not unlike [milk drops]. As the liquid lead splatters and solidifies again, the particles radiate outward in the charming concentric-circle formation seen [here]." The first image in the series shows the intact bullet just before the point of impact, suspended before the steel like a hovering missile. The second image shows the moment of impact when, as described above, the connection of steel with steel results in a liquid firework radiating out from the concentrically circular bull's-eye. The final image shows the moment after impact when the shattered bullet begins to spread into shards of light and solid metal in concentric circles.
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