Femtophotography is a technique that captures ultra-slow motion images of light pulses propagating through a medium. It works by using a camera that can take trillion frames per second to photograph individual photons reflected from an object at different times, which are then combined to recreate the image. Originally developed in 1970, it is now being researched at MIT to visualize light in motion and help with applications like object detection, collision avoidance, and medical imaging like colonoscopies.