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Artist
Harold E. Edgerton, 6 Apr 1903 - 4 Jan 1990
Printer
Gus Kayafas, born 1947
Sitter
Ulise Joseph "Pete" Desjardins, 10 Apr 1907 - 6 May 1985
Date
1940 (printed c. 1980-81)
Type
Photograph
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
Image: 46.4 × 33.5 cm (18 1/4 × 13 3/16")
Sheet: 50.5 × 40.6 cm (19 7/8 × 16")
Topic
Interior
Architecture\Pool
Ulise Joseph "Pete" Desjardins: Male
Ulise Joseph "Pete" Desjardins: Sports and Recreation\Athlete
Ulise Joseph "Pete" Desjardins: Olympic medal
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift from the Trustees of the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Pete Kayafas) The Corcoran Gallery of Art, one of the country’s first private museums, was established in 1869 to promote art and American genius. In 2014 the Works from the Corcoran Collection were distributed to institutions in Washington, D.C.
At the 1928 Summer Olympics held in Amsterdam, the American diver Pete Desjardins (born Ulise Joseph Desjardins) claimed gold medals in both the platform and springboard diving competitions. In the three-meter springboard event, his forward one-and-a-half gainer (or somersault) dive earned a perfect 10 from the judges. Until the advent of diving phenomenon Greg Louganis in the 1980s, Desjardins was widely regarded as the greatest springboard diver in the history of the sport.
Following the 1928 Olympics, Desjardins was banned from further amateur competition after accepting excessive compensation for an appearance in a swimming exhibition. He turned professional in 1931, toured Europe, and performed at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. After returning to south Florida (his home since childhood), Desjardins staged popular water shows in Miami Beach until the mid-1960s.
By shooting at a rate of thirty exposures per second, Harold Edgerton produced this sequential image of Desjardins executing a springboard dive.
Nacido en St-Pierre-Jolys, Manitoba, Canadá
En las Olimpiadas de 1928 en Ámsterdam, el clavadista estadounidense Pete Desjardins (Ulise Joseph Desjardins) ganó medallas de oro en plataforma y trampolín. En el trampolín de tres metros, su salto hacia delante con vuelta y media recibió de los jueces un puntaje perfecto de 10. Hasta la llegada del fenómeno Greg Louganis en la década de 1980, Desjardins estaba considerado el mejor clavadista de trampolín en la historia del deporte.
Tras las Olimpiadas de 1928, Desjardins fue excluido de las competencias amateur a raíz de aceptar una compensación excesiva por aparecer en una exhibición de natación. En 1931 entró a la categoría profesional. Realizó giras por Europa y en 1939 se presentó en la Feria Mundial de Nueva York. Luego de regresar al sur de Florida (donde residió desde su niñez), montó populares espectáculos acuáticos en Miami Beach hasta mediados de la década de 1960.
Disparando a 30 exposiciones por segundo, Harold Edgerton produjo esta imagen secuencial de Desjardins en un salto del trampolín.
