Football Kick
Football Kick, 1938, Gelatin Silver Print
Harold Edgerton (American, 1903 – 1990)
#1993.0013.0001
Gift of Anne Harrington.
Raised in Nebraska, Harold Edgerton learned about photography in his uncle’s darkroom. In 1926, Edgerton began studies in electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he progressed from student to professor. Edgerton was an instructor at M.I.T. in 1931 when he invented the electronic stroboscope, or strobe flash. The power and speed of Edgerton’s invention revolutionized the art and science of photography. Edgerton’s invention allowed photographers to capture moments that previous traditional photography could not. Among Edgerton’s most famous images are splashes of milk and bullets penetrating various materials.
Football Kick is one of the first color strobe photographs ever taken. This photograph captures the fraction of a second when the kicker’s boot penetrates the football.
