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Powers of Ten
A man is sitting on a picnic blanket in a Chicago park on Lake Michigan. He is filmed from above. Every 10 seconds, the camera zooms out by a factor of 10: 10 meters becomes 100 meters, which then becomes 1,000, and so forth. Chicago comes into view, the United States, the whole of planet Earth, our solar system, and finally the entire universe, with constellations floating around like clouds of cream in ink-black coffee. Then we travel in the other direction: back to the man on the blanket, we pass through white blood cells and DNA helices to the other extreme end of the scale: electrons.
Powers of Ten was produced by designers Ray and Charles Eames. Their point of departure was the book Cosmic View: The Universe in 40 Jumps (1957) by Dutch educator Kees Boeke. This short film very effectively puts our place at the center of the world into perspective. In 1998, Powers of Ten was recognized as part of America’s cultural heritage and inducted into the Library of Congress.
Bio Charles Eames
Charles Eames was an American designer, architect, and filmmaker. In a creative partnership with his spouse, Ray Kaiser Eames, he made groundbreaking contributions in architecture, furniture design, industrial design, manufacturing, and the photographic arts.
Bio Ray Eames
Ray-Bernice Eames was an American artist and designer who worked in a variety of media. In a creative partnership with her husband, Charles Eames, and the Eames Office, she made groundbreaking contributions in architecture, graphic design, textile design, film, and furniture.
As an environmental film, certain moments within the 1968 version of Powers of Ten gain greater meaning. The visual depiction of Earth against the vast emptiness of space reveals that it is the sole option for supporting life. Given the Eameses’ lengthy introduction to the film at Harvard, it is clear that ecological issues were not a minor concern. They used iconic photographs taken by NASA and repositioned them in support of the nascent environmental movement, demonstrating the extreme isolation and vulnerability of Earth floating in space.
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- This film was #78 in the “Greatest” Short Films of All Time 2025