{"type":"artobject","objectid":17020,"objectnumber":"x1989-12","sortnumber":"1989   12x","displaytitle":"Death of a Light Bulb","department":"Photography","classification":"Photographs","datebegin":1936,"dateend":1936,"datecomputed":1936,"daterange":"A.D. 1900-1945","displaydate":"1936, printed 1980s","medium":"Gelatin silver print","dimensions":"image (each): 19.1 x 23.4 cm. (7 1/2 x 9 3/16 in.)\r\nsheet: 50.7 x 60.7 cm (19 15/16 x 23 7/8 in.)","dimensionsproposed":"","creditline":"Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Richard F. Young","markings":null,"inscribed":"Insc. on sheet: Death of a Light Bulb/.3 cal. Bullet Ca. 1936 11/40; on sheet: Harold Edgerton; verso: Harold Edgerton/3610.3011","signed":null,"catalograisonne":null,"creditlinerepro":"© Estate of Harold Edgerton","restrictions":"Restricted","nowebuse":"False","secondaryobjectnumber":null,"campuscollections":"false","on_view":false,"accessionyear":"1989-01-01","newaccession":0,"titles":[{"title":"Death of a Light Bulb","titletype":"Primary Title","displayorder":1}],"makers":[{"id":5748,"displayname":"Harold Eugene Edgerton","displaydate":"1903–1990; born Freemont, NE; died Cambridge, MA; active Cambridge, MA","datebegin":1903,"dateend":1990,"prefix":null,"suffix":null,"role":"Artist","displaymaker":"Harold Eugene Edgerton, 1903–1990; born Freemont, NE; died Cambridge, MA; active Cambridge, MA","displayorder":1}],"depicted":[],"texts":[{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Gallery Label","textentryhtml":"Edgerton, a professor of electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was fascinated by the challenge of capturing transient moments. He invented the strobe light in the 1930s and patented the stroboscope, a high-powered flash with an exceptionally fast cooldown time, in 1949. Combined with photography, fast flashes can help capture an otherwise undetectable succession of rapid events, such as a bullet piercing a light bulb. Edgerton revolutionized photography, producing images that balanced scientific precision with artistic experimentation.","remarks":"Franz HOP rotation March 2019"}],"media":[{"id":83912,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/INV10547","isprimary":1,"rank":1,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":"Restricted","caption":"Inventory Project"}],"hasimage":"true","bibliography":[{"boilertext":"\"Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1989,\" <EM>Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University </EM>49, no. 1 (1990): p. 24-57.","citation":"\"Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1989,\" <EM>Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University </EM>49, no. 1 (1990): p. 24-57., p. 35","date":1990,"id":3099,"uri":"https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774747"}],"exhibitions":[],"geography":[],"terms":[{"id":2038492,"term":"American","aatid":300107956,"termtype":"Culture"},{"id":2053728,"term":"black-and-white photographs","aatid":300128347,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2115118,"term":"light bulbs","aatid":300037663,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2053200,"term":"photographs","aatid":300046300,"termtype":"Classification"}],"classifications":[{"id":2053728,"classification":"black-and-white photographs"},{"id":2053200,"classification":"photographs"}],"cultures":[],"cultureterms":[{"id":2038492,"culture":"American"}],"periods":[],"periodterms":[],"attribute_groups":[{"id":2199325,"term":"North American Art","termtype":"Collecting Area"},{"id":2199326,"term":"Photography","termtype":"Collecting Area"}],"dimensionelements":[{"element":"image","type":"Height","units":"centimeters","dimension":"19.10"},{"element":"image","type":"Width","units":"centimeters","dimension":"23.40"},{"element":"sheet","type":"Width","units":"centimeters","dimension":"60.70"},{"element":"sheet","type":"Height","units":"centimeters","dimension":"50.70"}],"packages":[{"packageid":183111,"name":"Photo_remainder"},{"packageid":241081,"name":"TDC-Final [7]"}],"primaryimage":["https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/INV10547"],"displaymaker":"Harold Eugene Edgerton, 1903–1990; born Freemont, NE; died Cambridge, MA; active Cambridge, MA","displayculture":null,"displayperiod":null,"caption":"Harold Eugene Edgerton (1903–1990; born Freemont, NE; died Cambridge, MA; active Cambridge, MA), Death of a Light Bulb, 1936, printed 1980s. Gelatin silver print; 19.1 x 23.4 cm, 19.1 x 23.4 cm (image, each), 50.7 x 60.7 cm (sheet). Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Richard F. Young (x1989-12)","captionhtml":"Harold Eugene Edgerton (1903–1990; born Freemont, NE; died Cambridge, MA; active Cambridge, MA), <i>Death of a Light Bulb</i>, 1936, printed 1980s. Gelatin silver print; 19.1 x 23.4 cm, 19.1 x 23.4 cm (image, each), 50.7 x 60.7 cm (sheet). Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Richard F. Young (x1989-12)","published_date":"2026-03-05 08:58:18.379156","campusart":[{"campuscollections":"false","campusart":0,"neighborhood":null,"lat":null,"lon":null}],"extended_content":false}