Harold Edgerton and the question: What is art?
The celebrated photographer insisted he was not an artist
Harold Edgerton, an American professor of electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), gained worldwide recognition for inventing the strobe light, the foundation of modern flash photography, and for pioneering stroboscopic photography. This technique, a form of ultra-high-speed photography using strobe lights, allowed Edgerton to capture moments at incredibly short intervals, such as 1/2,000,000th of a second.
In the early 1930s, while studying turbine engines in his MIT lab, Edgerton sought clear, stop-action images of engines in motion. However, the camera technology of the time couldn’t keep up, as its shutters were too slow to capture the rapid movement of turbines.
Edgerton developed a new method that bypassed the limitations of traditional shutters. Instead of taking a photo by pressing the shutter button, he left the camera’s shutter open in darkness, then used quick bursts of light from his strobe to freeze the movement. This process produced a series of sharp, split-second images that seemed frozen in time.
Upon a student’s suggestion, Edgerton began applying his stroboscopic technique to everyday objects, unveiling a previously unseen world. His photographs captured phenomena that move too quickly for the human eye, such as speeding bullets, the flap of a hummingbird’s wings, atomic explosions, shattering glass, a golf club in motion, and the splash of a milk drop.
Although Edgerton’s sole aim was scientific, many found his photographs visually stunning and considered them artworks. Many of his photographs were eventually auctioned as artworks at Sotheby’s and Christie’s and displayed in prestigious institutions like the Museum of Modern Art.
Not only were Edgerton’s photos visually captivating, but they also prompted philosophical reflection on time, reality, and perception. Some viewers found them spiritually inspiring, suggesting they revealed “God’s details.”
Edgerton himself rejected the label of "artist." He saw himself as a scientist and was adamant that his work was focused on gathering facts, not creating art. He believed that any artistic qualities in his photos were incidental, and focusing on aesthetics would be detrimental to good science. For him, pursuing beauty or pleasing results could interfere with objective scientific observation.
Not all of Edgerton’s photos are considered art, which raises the question of what makes something art in the first place. Some of his images, though fascinating, are not necessarily attractive.
For instance, the first photo of this post, of Edgerton in his lab, is more interesting than beautiful. When I showed a friend this photo alongside his iconic milk drop image (below), she immediately deemed the milk drop to be art but not the photo of Edgerton. Both are high-speed photographs, and her distinction was based purely on aesthetic appeal.
This raises the question: is art defined by beauty, or was she mistaking visual pleasure for art? Her quick, emotional response explains why Edgerton, focused on science, distanced himself from the title of artist.
Our responses to art and nature are shaped by evolutionary biology. We are naturally drawn to qualities like symmetry, color, and texture, which explains why the simple, balanced milk drop photo is more pleasing than the top photo of Edgerton.
Though Edgerton used high-speed photography for scientific purposes, other photographers adopted his techniques for artistic expression. Gjon Mili, a renowned Life magazine photographer, was the first to use Edgerton’s methods with artistic intent.
Despite his reluctance to call himself an artist, Edgerton wasn’t oblivious to the public’s interest in his more aesthetically pleasing images. He produced high-quality prints of his best work, signing limited editions that are now sold at auctions and displayed in museums. Whether this was a pragmatic move or a savvy business decision, it shows that Edgerton, while a scientist at heart, understood the allure of the images he created for a broader audience.