Harold E. Edgerton - .30 Bullet Piercing an Apple, 1964

Photograph by Harold E. Edgerton, North American; American, 1903 - 1990.

.30 Bullet Piercing an Apple, 1964.

George Eastman House Collection (GEH_.96:0347:0007)

This is probably one of the more well-known of Harold Edgerton's images, but one of the reasons I love it is that he has taken an ordinary apple and created what is normally an invisible act (and a RARE act, I'm not sure how many people have shot apples with bullets), visible to the human eye. I appreciate that Edgerton's background was not originally photography, but electrical engineering at MIT, where he was a professor. Working with the electronic stroboscope, Edgerton was able to capture these kinds of split second scenes using an extremely high speed flash.  But without that knowledge, I still adore this photo for many reasons; there is no analogue or digital altering of the image, it takes something so familiar and normal (apples) and puts it in an entirely new perspective. In addition, the visual of the bullet also raises other visuals in my mind as well. Edgerton's images I feel are truly iconic of the 20th century.