Wallace G. Levison

Wallace G. Levison was a chemist, inventor, and lecturer who founded the Departments of Mineralogy and Astronomy at the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences in the latter half of the 19th century.

Jamie Swan jumps off a short stone wall at Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn. ( Wallace G. Levison/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Wallace was also a passionate photographer, using the new technology both as a scientific tool and a recreational activity, he captured sensational pictures.

Mr. Stokes jumps off a wall in Fort Greene Park. ( Wallace G. Levison/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

As the dawn of the 20th century approached, more newer sensitive film emulsions were developed that allowed pictures to be taken with faster shutter speeds.

Isabel Harter rides a tricycle while her sister Nellie rolls a hoop in Fort Greene ( Wallace G. Levison/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Wallace’s photographed amid the hustling crowds of Manhattan and the playing bathers of Coney Island, displaying an obsession with motion and a delight with freezing actions that could previously only be recorded as a blur.

J.M. Cornell jumps in the backyard at 314 Livingston Street. ( Wallace G. Levison/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Ethel Merritt jumps in the air at Coney Island. ( Wallace G. Levison/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

A woman swings on a rope at Coney Island. ( Wallace G. Levison/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

H.B. Leckler's dog Mace poses atop a chair in Fort Greene. ( Wallace G. Levison/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Maggie Ward stands on the end of a diving board at Coney Island. ( Wallace G. Levison/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

An elephant from the Barnes Circus walks down Atlantic Street in Brooklyn. ( Wallace G. Levison/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

A man in a barrel does a push up at the beach. ( Wallace G. Levison/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Acrobats perform a balancing act on the backs of a pair of horses as crowds watch at Coney Island's Dreamland. ( Wallace G. Levison )

A woman swims at the beach. ( Wallace G. Levison/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Edith Poey jumps off a wooden pole onto the sand at Coney Island. ( Wallace G. Levison/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

A group of young male bathers walk single file along the beach. ( Wallace G. Levison/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Girls jump off a stone wall in Fort Greene. ( Wallace G. Levison/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Crowds of men outside the New York Tribune building in lower Manhattan. ( Wallace G. Levison/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Uniformed officers in riding boots walk down a street. ( Wallace G. Levison/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Five men compete in a walking race. ( Wallace G. Levison/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

An actor talks with bathers on the beach. ( Wallace G. Levison/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Gertrude Hubbell, Ruth Peters, and Mildred Grimwood play near the water at Arverne, Queens. ( Wallace G. Levison )

Edgar J. Taylor jumps off a barrel. ( Wallace G. Levison/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Miss Brown holds a cob of maize for a squirrel to eat. ( Wallace G. Levison/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Nathan Abbott and a young girl walk through Copps Hill Cemetery. ( Wallace G. Levison/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)