[Trails of Tracer Bullets]

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)
Credit LineBarbara Levine and Paige Ramey Collection, museum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment
Object number2020.137.29.9
Not on view

Explore Further

Department
Photography
Object Type
DescriptionTracer
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.

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