Eadweard Muybridge, was an English photographer from the late 19th century. Although he is best known for his pioneering work in photographic studies of motion, he was originally made famous in 1868, by his large photographs of Yosemite Valley, California.
Beginning with a trotting horse in 1872, Muybridge’s experiments with photographing motion eventually led to the development of a zoopraxiscope, a lantern that projects images in rapid succession, producing the illusion of moving pictures. The zoopraxiscope display is an important predecessor of the modern cinema. As defined by the Masters of Photography website, a zoopraxiscope was a “primitive motion-picture machine which recreated movement by displaying individual photographs in rapid succession.” The studies of motion that he made with the support and sponsorship of University of Pennsylvania are thought to be his most important; these were photographs of humans in a variety of activities both clothed and naked, and were studied and used by both artists and scientists.
Muybridge began his career in the United States as a commission merchant, in 1851. He was involved in the importation from England of unbound books, which were then bound, sold, and distributed in America. In 1855, he joined his friend, Silas T. Selleck, a daguerreotypist (a photographer who makes a photo on a plate of chemically-treated metal or glass) in San Francisco. Sticking with what he knew, he opened a bookstore downtown, and above the bookstore he opened an office as the commission merchant for the company. Muybridge’s business grew and he brought his two younger brothers, first George (who died in 1858), then Tom to San Francisco.
By the late 1850s, Muybridge’s attention was drawn again to photography, specifically new techniques in photography which made landscape photography his interest. There were a series of events in between these landscape photos, and the series of the horse, including a murder trial, in which he was found not guilty, followed by extended travelling abroad, but he eventually returned to photograph Stanford’s racehorse, named Occident., in an attempt to determine whether all four of a horse’s hooves are off the ground at some point in a gallop. The photo series proved that all four of a horse’s hooves are off the ground at some point, and the development of the zoopraxiscope, which he used in his lectures, led to motion pictures as we know them.
Beginning with a trotting horse in 1872, Muybridge’s experiments with photographing motion eventually led to the development of a zoopraxiscope, a lantern that projects images in rapid succession, producing the illusion of moving pictures. The zoopraxiscope display is an important predecessor of the modern cinema. As defined by the Masters of Photography website, a zoopraxiscope was a “primitive motion-picture machine which recreated movement by displaying individual photographs in rapid succession.” The studies of motion that he made with the support and sponsorship of University of Pennsylvania are thought to be his most important; these were photographs of humans in a variety of activities both clothed and naked, and were studied and used by both artists and scientists.
Muybridge began his career in the United States as a commission merchant, in 1851. He was involved in the importation from England of unbound books, which were then bound, sold, and distributed in America. In 1855, he joined his friend, Silas T. Selleck, a daguerreotypist (a photographer who makes a photo on a plate of chemically-treated metal or glass) in San Francisco. Sticking with what he knew, he opened a bookstore downtown, and above the bookstore he opened an office as the commission merchant for the company. Muybridge’s business grew and he brought his two younger brothers, first George (who died in 1858), then Tom to San Francisco.
By the late 1850s, Muybridge’s attention was drawn again to photography, specifically new techniques in photography which made landscape photography his interest. There were a series of events in between these landscape photos, and the series of the horse, including a murder trial, in which he was found not guilty, followed by extended travelling abroad, but he eventually returned to photograph Stanford’s racehorse, named Occident., in an attempt to determine whether all four of a horse’s hooves are off the ground at some point in a gallop. The photo series proved that all four of a horse’s hooves are off the ground at some point, and the development of the zoopraxiscope, which he used in his lectures, led to motion pictures as we know them.
Sources:
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/399928/Eadweard-Muybridge
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Eadweard_Muybridge.aspx
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/399928/Eadweard-Muybridge
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Eadweard_Muybridge.aspx