Bullet Through Plexiglass 1962

Curator: Here we have Harold Edgerton's "Bullet Through Plexiglass," a striking image from Harvard Art Museums. What's your immediate take? Editor: Visceral, even violent. The stark monochrome palette amplifies the sense of impact and destruction frozen in time. Curator: Indeed. Edgerton, who lived from 1903 to 1990, was a pioneer in stroboscopic photography, capturing events imperceptible to the naked eye. Note how the composition is dictated by implied lines of motion and fragmentation. Editor: The bullet, the shattered plexiglass... it’s a modern memento mori. A meditation on the fragility of protection against inevitable forces. Curator: I see it as a scientific, almost clinical, deconstruction of a single moment—a study of form and energy. Editor: Perhaps both. It’s a testament to how a single image can carry so many layered meanings, from physics to philosophy. Curator: A fitting end note to our discussion. Editor: Indeed, a powerful exploration of the seen and unseen.