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The Critical Moment

The Critical Moment

Willi Ruge
German, 1882–1961
c. 1930
A gelatin silver print photograph that freezes the split-second drama of parachutists leaving a small plane, aiming to make visible the suspense and daring of early aviation.
The vast, empty sky overwhelms the frame so the tiny, sharply silhouetted airplane and the falling figures feel weightless and precarious, their diagonal placement giving the scene a breathless sense of motion and risk.
Made around 1930, the image links photography’s capacity to arrest time with the period’s fascination with flight and spectacle, helping to shape how modern speed, danger, and human daring were visually narrated.
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
6 3/16 × 8 15/16" (15.7 × 22.7 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Thomas Walther
Accession
1849.2001.7
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
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