Beams of Light Through Glass (from the Retrospective Portfolio)

Artist Berenice Abbott (American, 1898 - 1991)

Publisher Parasol Press, Ltd. (American)

Date1958-1961 (printed 1982)

Mediumgelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 19 3/8 × 23 1/4 in. (49.2 × 59.1 cm)
Support: 30 1/2 × 36 1/2 in. (77.5 × 92.7 cm)
Mat: 30 3/8 × 36 1/2 in. (77.2 × 92.7 cm)

ClassificationsPhotograph

Credit LineGift of Susan Steinhauser and Daniel Greenberg, 2014

Object number2014.21.10

DescriptionSix white rays of light shoot upward from a quadrilateral form at bottom left.Light passes through a triangular form in the center of the image and is bent, three rays off to the right, and three rays continue upward at a slightly right hand tilt.
eMuseum Notes

Emuseum Notes

In addition to her well-known portraiture work and documentary photography, Abbott was an innovator in the use of photography to document scientific phenomena. Beginning in the late 1940s and until shortly before her death, she made scientific images. In the late 1950s, Abbott was asked to work with scientists at MIT to create photographic images that could be used for teaching physics. In collaboration with the scientists, she utilized her artistic imagination to develop innovative techniques to document the principles of physical science. Those photographic illustrations made visible the principles of mechanics, electromagnetism, and waves.

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