The desire to capture images of fluids in motion for both scientific and artistic reasons dates back over 500 years, at least to the time of Leonardo de Vinci who is known to have recorded visual images of the complicated patterns traced by floating seeds on the surface of naturally flowing water. Indeed, flow visualization has played a major role in the development of the science of fluid mechanics, and has certainly been a key component in major technological advances such as the evolution of flight; in understanding natural phenomena such as the atmospheric motions that are responsible for weather-related phenomena such as hurricanes or tornadic thunderstorms; and in understanding biological systems such as the heart pump. A collection of some of the most striking photographs of fluid motions from the research literature was collected and published in 1982 in a book entitled An Album of Fluid Motion, by Milton Van Dyke.

Motivated by Van Dyke's book, the Division of Fluid Dynamics (DFD) of the American Physical Society (APS) has sponsored a “photo” contest at its annual scientific meeting each year since 1983. Researchers are invited to display visual images of fluids in motion. The entries are judged by a distinguished panel of fluid dynamics researchers to choose the most outstanding contributions based upon two criteria:

1. The artistic beauty and novelty of the visualizations;

2. The contribution to a better understanding of fluid flow phenomena.