A closer look
Before Harold 'Papa Flash' Edgerton came along, humanity had no idea what fast things actually looked like. By hooking up a ridiculously powerful strobe light to a camera, he reduced exposure times to millionths of a second. He essentially froze time, capturing bullets slicing through playing cards and the exact fluid dynamics of a milk drop hitting a table. Edgerton didn't just invent high-speed stroboscopic photography; he single-handedly proved that everyday violence is aesthetically magnificent if you just slow it down enough.
