Oldest high-speed photography

[quote="pinhedz"]"Leaping the Chasm" by H. H. Bennett demonstrated that a high enough shutter speed could stop action in mid-air.

Bennett had his 13-year-old son make the leap in 1886 to prove the point:



Who, around now, would encourage their 13 year-old son to attempt that jump, in pursuit of the first high-speed photo? The fall could easily, would probably, have killed him. And how the hell did he get down? I'd have been a lot more relaxed at Jamie Bulger's killers having a crack at it, had they been around at the time.

pinhedz wrote:

precinct14 wrote:And how the hell did he get down?

If you jump across, you have to jump back (there's a footpath to the right).

The kid probably started doing it by himself without asking permission, and dad decided if he's going to do stuff like that, he might as well make himself useful.

Both, jump and photo, are jaw-dropping.

As I mentioned when pinz posted this pic on ATU Mk 1, I recalled seeing the same, or similar, pic in an old book of my dad's (from 1930-ish), when I were nobbut a lad. I've traced it and will scan and post the pic and blurb when I get a chance.

pinhedz wrote:

precinct14 wrote:And how the hell did he get down?

If you jump across, you have to jump back

The run-up for the pictured jump looks to be as long as you like. For the return jump, the kid just had the width of the rock platform, which isn't huge. So why, I wonder, didn't he photograph the return jump? You don't suppose the kid....?

not related, but I love this photo by Yves Klein