Artist
Frank Gilbreth(American, 1868–1924)American, 1868–1924
Printer
Mike Mandel (American, born 1950)American, born 1950
CultureAmerican
Titles
- Handwriting Cyclegraph
Date1910s, printed 1985
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 7 3/8 × 7 3/4 in. (18.7 × 19.7 cm)
Sheet: 7 15/16 × 9 15/16 in. (20.2 × 25.2 cm)
Sheet: 7 15/16 × 9 15/16 in. (20.2 × 25.2 cm)
Credit LineThe Allan Chasanoff Photographic Collection
Object number91.870
Not on view
Explore Further
Department
PhotographySpecial Collections
Object Type
Frank Gilbreth used photography to study and refine the efficiency of workers’ movements. Here, he attached a small lightbulb to the hand of a worker whose writing motion was recorded on film as a path of light. If the light flashed on and off, the path of the hand appeared as a dotted line, and the spacing of those dots and dashes indicated the speed or hesitation of the examined body movement.
ProvenanceAllan Chasanoff, New York; given to MFAH, 1991.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
verso lower right bottom in ink " Frank Gilbreth 1910's " [sec]
verso lower right bottom in ink " Mike Mandel 1985 "
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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Frank Gilbreth
1910–1924, printed 1985
Gelatin silver print
91.869
