Andrew Davidhazy

Professor of Technical Photography (retired)
School of Photo Arts and Sciences, Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester, NY

I am "driven" by my interest in making visible and explaining physical phenomena that are generally invisible or incomprehensible to our naked or unaided eyes. Most often these events and their behaviors visually stunning as well as inherently describable in mathematical terms. I think I am best described as an Applied Photographer more so than a photographic artist yet my work often reflects, I hope, significant aesthetic qualities.

Bullet at Mach 1.4 with trailing particle
Bullet at Mach 1.4 with trailing particle
12 x 18 inch image in 16 x 20 mat
pigment jet print
2005

This microsecond duration shadowgraph of a supersonic bullet in free flight trailed by a fragment of unknown origin is inherently infused with physical relationships that are fully and best described in mathematical terms.

Ernst Mach decoded the meaning of shock waves and quantified the relationships between supersonic missiles and the speed of sound. Thus this photograph may be appreciated not only for its visual impact but also for the its mathematical content.