How do developments in technology influence art?

What are the connections between science and photography?

How have artists, particularly photographers, explored concepts of time in their work?

How do artists create a sense of movement, motion, or action in their artworks?

What is happening in this image? How might it have been created?

This image is of something that happens so fast that human eyes cannot see this detail without the aid of technology. What is the relationship between a photographer and their tools? In what ways is the practice of photography influenced by the artist’s relationship to their camera? Is that relationship fundamentally different than the relationship of artists working with their tools in other media?

What aspects of this photograph suggest movement?

Think about the photographs that you are most familiar with or that you have taken yourself. What decisions did the photographer make in creating those images? What aspects of this photograph did Edgerton control? What was out of his control?

Is this photograph more connected to science, art, or equally to both? Why?

Edgerton’s camera captured many photographs of this bullet traveling through this flame. Why do you think he chose this image as the most important? What makes this photograph successful?

Think of an action or event that it is difficult to see with the unaided eye. If you could slow it down, what tiny moment would you most want to see? What do you think it would look like? Is there beauty in the moment you chose?

Grades 6–12

Activity 1
Edgerton is best known for his work in stroboscopic photography, using intermittent flashes of light to study movement; but he is also responsible for developments in underwater imaging and sonar devices. Ask students to research Edgerton’s contributions to photographic innovation in the 20th century. To extend students’ inquiry, challenge them to discover another artist who contributed to scientific advancement, or a scientist who contributed to artistic innovation.

Activity 2
Ask students to consider an action or movement that happens so quickly it cannot be seen with the unaided human eye. Have students imagine components of that movement and sketch four or five of those moments in sequence. Display students’ work and ask classmates to choose which of the several sketches is the most critical to the action and the most beautiful. Have students write a paragraph about their reasons for choosing that particular image.