Rodeo 1940

Curator: The image before us is Harold Edgerton's "Rodeo," a gelatin silver print currently residing at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It's kinetic! Even frozen, there's a palpable sense of struggle, a raw, almost violent energy emanating from the horse and rider. Curator: Edgerton's strobe photography captured motion otherwise invisible to the naked eye. Think about the symbolism – the cowboy's mastery versus the wild spirit of the West, embodied by the bucking bronco. Editor: And how that symbolism shifts depending on the viewer. For some, it's a celebration of American grit; for others, it’s a romanticized and fraught performance of power. The socio-political undercurrents are undeniable. Curator: Indeed, the image's resonance has shifted over time. It’s now as much a document of mid-century spectacle as it is a study of human-animal relationships. Editor: Seeing the crowd blurred in the background emphasizes how central this performance is to the culture being documented; it becomes a way to reflect on the values and pastimes we choose to immortalize.