Focusing Water Waves

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) hired Abbott in 1958 to produce photo illustrations for a new physics book. So captivating were the results that magazines of the time featured and discussed them alongside current events such as the 1957 launch of the Sputnik satellite. These images are rigorously scientific, and yet, the anthropomorphic aspect is rooted in Abbott’s Surrealist background. To capture this particular distribution of waves, Abbott developed an enormous photographic apparatus, which she called “Super Sight.”