![[Trails of Tracer Bullets]](/internal/media/dispatcher/363635/preview)
Artist
Unknown
CultureUnknown
Titles
- [Trails of Tracer Bullets]
Date1940
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 2 1/2 × 3 1/2 in. (6.4 × 8.9 cm)
Sheet: 2 15/16 × 4 1/8 in. (7.5 × 10.4 cm)
Sheet: 2 15/16 × 4 1/8 in. (7.5 × 10.4 cm)
Credit LineBarbara Levine and Paige Ramey Collection, museum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund
Object number2020.137.29.9
Not on view
Explore Further
Department
PhotographyObject Type
rounds—usually loaded as every fifth bullet—were used extensively on both sides
during World War II to provide nighttime gunners with a way to see the path of
their live rounds. With a long exposure, photographs recorded the full
trajectory of the tracers, a pyrotechnic display that became a fixture of war
reporting and Hollywood films.
ProvenanceBarbara Levine and Paige Ramey; purchased by MFAH, 2020.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Inscribed in pencil, verso, center: [illegible] 21 17 // 1940
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.
Keystone View Company
c. 1914
Gelatin silver stereograph
2004.1220.229
William Wegman
1970–71
Single-channel digital video, transferred from Sony CV 1/2-inch video tape, black-and-white, sound
2019.402.45
Alexandra Boulat
December 2001, printed 2008
Inkjet print
2008.829
![[Group of Women]](/internal/media/dispatcher/353783/thumbnail)
![[Women Holding Hands Walking Uphill]](/internal/media/dispatcher/354299/thumbnail)
![[Two Women Smoking Cigars]](/internal/media/dispatcher/354302/thumbnail)
![[Woman Driving Car]](/internal/media/dispatcher/354309/thumbnail)
![[Group of Women Holding Boxes with Numbers]](/internal/media/dispatcher/354307/thumbnail)
![[Woman with Cigarette]](/internal/media/dispatcher/354311/thumbnail)