Eadweard Muybridge was a pioneering photographer who made seminal contributions to the development of motion pictures. He is best known for capturing the motion of a galloping horse through a series of photographs in 1872, which settled a long-running debate. This work was commissioned by railroad tycoon Leland Stanford and captured using a system of 12 cameras. Muybridge continued his motion studies over subsequent decades, developing high-speed shutter technologies and inventing the zoopraxiscope, an early movie projector. His photographs influenced generations of artists and scientists and helped lay the foundation for modern film.

1. Movement
capture to
Motion
picture
The Influentialwork of
Eadweard Muybrigde
Charmaine Kelly B00574078

2. EadweardMuybridge wasa man of many things,a father,ahusband,a murderertoname a few,but
mostimportantlyEadweardMuybridge was aphotographer. He wasthe manwhose workwould
inspire anewgenerationof photographers,chronographers,cinematographers andwould
eventually leadtomotionpicture aswe know it. What I wouldlike toexplorethe life eventsthat
contributedintheirownwayto hisworkas well asdescribe the importantworkitselfand then
brieflydiscussthe men whowouldfollow inEadweardMuybridge’sfootstepstoleave their own
contributionstothe creationof movingimage.
Edward James Muggeridge wasborn inKingston-upon-ThamesonApril 9th
1830. AlthoughBritish
born,Edward spentmostof his careerliving,workingandtravellingall overAmerica. Whenfirstin
Americahe workedasa bookbinder’sagentinNew YorkCity,butitwasn’tuntil he moved toSan
Franciscoin 1855 that he realisedhisinterestinphotography,itwasaroundthe same time that
Edward changedhis lastname to Muygridge.
In 1860 Muygridge suffered aterrible stage coachaccident, leavinghimsufferingfromdoublevision,
headtrauma, confusedthinkingandsenses. Unbeknowntohimatthe time,butthe accidentand
recoverywasaboutto put Muybridge ona completelynew path. Atthe time of the accidenthe was
travellingtoEngland,butittooka yearof treatmentinNew York before he wasable to returnhome.
Once back home he was still receivingongoing treatmentforhisinjuries. It was at the requestof his
physicianSirWilliamGull,thatMuygridge changedhisvocationtophotography. Hisname changed
once again,becomingMuybridge,andthisiswhatit wouldstayuntil the endof hiscareer. It’s said
that aroundthistime inEngland, he learntthe wetcollodionprocess(earlyphotographyprocessin
the 1850’s that eventuallyreplacedthe firstpractical process-daguerreotype) andacquiredthe best
photographyequipmentavailable.
He returnedtoAmericain1867 as a professional photographer andquicklyestablishedhis
reputationforhisworkphotographinglandscape,particularly Yosemite Valley andthe San Francisco
bay. Histechnical skill andartisticeye begantonethima fortune andas hisfame quicklyspread.
He spentthe nextfewyears travellinginwithhisportable lightroom he createdusingalight
carriage vehicle. He signedandpublishedhisworkunderPseudonymHelioswhichwasalsohis
studioname. HisStereographs(illusionof depthina2-d image) were soldtovariousgalleriesand
photographicentrepreneurs.
Soon Muybridge attractedthe attentionof former governorandPresidentof the Central Pacific
Railroad,LelandStanford. In1972 StanfordcommissionedMuybridge tostudyandcapture the
movementsof ahorse introt to settle apopulardebate of the day – didall fourhoovesof horse
leave the groundduringtrot? In the same year he marriedFloraShallcrossStone,a beautiful young
lady at lessthanhalf his age.In1873 Muybridge answeredthe Stanford’squestionwithasingle
negative showingasilhouetteof standardbredtrottinghorse Occidenttrottingwithall fourhooves
of the ground. The negative itselfhasbeenlostoverthe yearsbutthe woodcuttingstill remains.
Althoughkeentocontinue hisworkforStanfordotherunforeseeableeventswouldnot allow itjust
yet.
In 1874 on hisreturnfroma photographytrip,Muybridge became aware of hiswife’s infidelities.
Whilstaway,she hadan affairwithMajorHarry Larkyns,Florawas pregnantandunsure whothe
fatherwas. On hearingthisMuybridge paid the mana visit. He calmlyintroducedhimself andshot
the Major at pointblankrange,killinghim. He waslaterarrestedwithoutprotest. His lawyer

3. arguedthat as a resultof the stage coach accidentin1860, Muybridge wasleftwitherraticand
unstable behaviour. Several close friendstestifiedthathispersonalitywasneverthe same afterthe
accident. The jury dismissedthe insanitypleabut acquitted himanyhow onthe grounds‘justifiable
homicide’. Although acquittedMuybridgewasnow treated like anexile insocietyanddecidedto
leave ona nine monthexpeditiontoCentral America.
The whole scenariointerruptedMuybridge’sstudiesof the horse inmotionbutnothisrelationship
withStanford. Onhisreturn to Americahe wasencouragedtocontinue hisstudiesof the horse. He
resumedhisworkin1877 and he nowhad hisowncreationof a new shutterthatoperatedas slow
as 1/1000th
of a second,so more detailedphotoscouldbe obtainedthatwouldnothave been
possible in1872. The projectwassponsoredbyStanfordandMuybridge wasgivenStanford’sfarm
at PaloAltoto workfrom.
Muybridge hada fiftyfootlongshedconstructed,alongone wall wasa row of 12 camerasand facing
themwas a white wall withvertical numberedlines. Eachcamera was fittedwithMuybridge’snew
highspeedshutterand releasedbyan electromagneticcatch. A seriesof thinthreadsconnectedto
the camera shutterwere stretchedacrossthe track and clothswere placedonthe floortoreflectas
much lightaspossible. The movementof the horse releasedthe thread,closingthe shutterand
instantexposure wastaken. Within half asecond aseriesof 12 photos were produced. Although
these photos were still nothingmore than silhouettes,they were sharpand clearlyshowedeach
phase of movement. LaterMuybridge repeatedthe experimentusing 24 cameras. The photos
attracteda lotof attentionandwere publishedall overthe worldinscientificandphotographic
journals. Byreplacingthe threadswithanelectroniccommutatordevice,releasingthe shuttersat
precise intervals,Muybridge wasable tophotographotheranimalsinmotionandeventually
humans.
Muybridge thenwentonto copythe photos ontoa disc thatwouldbe viewedthoughamachine he
inventedcalledthe Zoopraxiscope. Thisdevice wasregardedasanearlymovie projectorandwasan
intermediate steptowardsmotionpictureorcinematography. The zoopraxiscopewasaglassdisc
withimagesonit thatcreatedthe illusionof motionwhenspinning. The stop – motionstyle images
were initially handpaintedas silhouettes butin1892-94 a seriesof discswere made withthe image
outline photographicallyprintedandthenthe detail addedbyhand. Some of the animatedimages
were complex,featuringmultiple combinationsof sequencesof humanandanimal movement. The
device wasa huge stepinthe directionof motionpicture andseemstohave beenthe primary
influenceforThomasEdisonandWilliamKenney Dickinson’s kinetoscope.
In 1882 Muybridge change the spellingof hisfirstname fromEdwardto the oldEnglishversion
Eadweard. In the same yearhe lectured inthe Royal institute andendedhisworkingrelationship
withStanford. The two menhada majorfallingoverthe bookthatwas to be publishedcalled‘The
Horse in Motion’(1882 Dr J.B.D Stillman). Stillman’sbookusedMuybridge’sphotographybutgave
himno credit. Insteaditas impliedthatMuybridge wasnothingmore thananemployeeof Stanford.
Notonlywas Muybridge not receivingthe credithe deservedforhisworkbutthe Royal Societyof
Arts refusedtopublishhispapersaccusinghimof plagiarismandwithdrew theiroffertofundhis
work. He filedalawsuitagainstStanfordbut wasthe case was thrownoutof court. Stillman’sbook
didnot sell aswell asexpectedbutMuybridge onthe otherhand lookedelsewhereforfunding,and

4. received$40,000 fromthe Universityof Pennsylvaniaandlaterthe Royal Societywould eventually
invite himback.
Nowfunded Muybridge worked obsessively inPhiladelphiaproducingatotal of 100,000
photographs between1883 and 87. He photographedanimalsatthe zooand people inastudioto
studytheirmovements. Hismodelswere usual nudeorwearingthinclothingtogive amore
accurate representation,andEadweardhimselfposednude showingthe motionof swinginga
miningpick. The photoswere takingagainsta gridbackgroundand showedavarietyof motions,
includingwrestling,boxing,walkingupanddownstairsandeventhrowingwateraroundeachother.
A lotof time wasspenteditingandselectingthe photosforaportfolioconsistingof 20,000 photo
and 781 plates. It waspublishedwiththe titleAnimal Locomotion,itisthe workthat mostof usare
familiarwith.
In 1893 at the ChicagoWorld’sFair the Animal Locomotioncollectionwas projectedthroughthe
zoopraxiscope toapayingaudience,makingthe exhibitionthe firstcommercialmovietheatre inthe
world. The followingyearhe leftforEnglandwhere he livedandworkeduntil he diedin1904 in his
home townof KingstonUponThames. During thistime he publishedtwoadditional books,‘Animals
inMotion’(1899) and ‘The Human figure inMotion’(1901). Even todayanimatorsuse these images
as accurate reference tomovementswhenanimatingcharacters.
EaweardMuybridge leftalegacybehindwhenhe passedaway. Hiswork inspiredartistsand
photographerstothinkdifferently. ArtistssuchasThomasEakinscontinued the studyof motion
withphotography,butwhereasMuybridge usedaseriesof camerasto produce a sequence of
photos,Thomaslikedtoproduce a seriesof exposuresonone negative. Etienne-JulesMarey was
anotherphotographerwhowasinspiredbyMuybridge,butitcouldalsobe arguedthatwithout
Marey, Muybridge mayneverhave producedthe famoushorse sequence thatsparkedhis career.
It was originally Marey’sworkthatledStanfordandMuybridge to pursue theirownstudiesof the
horse inmovement. OriginallyitwashissoundrecordinginstrumentsthatMareyusedtorecord
movement,suchasthe sphygmographtomeasure pulse. InspiredbyMuybridge’sfindingsbut
dissatisfiedbythe lackof precisioninthe birdimages,Mareybeganhisownfindings. Thisledtothe
creationof hischronophotographicgun. Builtin1882, thispiece of equipmentwascapable of taking
12 consecutive framesasecond. The resultwasa successionof imagesof a single movement
printedontoa single canvasmuchlike the work of Eakins. Marey wenton to produce movies, they
were at a highspeed(60 imagespersecond) andof excellentimage quality:inslow-motion
cinematography,he hadcome close toperfection.Hisresearchonhow tocapture anddisplay
movingimageshelpedthe emergingfieldof cinematography.
Marey has beennamedthe foundingfatherof cinematography,andinhistime,hisworkwas widely
reportedinthe media. Thissparkedthe likesof ThomasEdisonandLouisLumiere tofollow onand
continue the developmentof film. WithoutMareythiswouldnothave beenpossible butwithout
Muybridge,Mareymay neverhave changedfromrecordingthe circulationandrespiratory systemof
the humanbody to recordingmovement. Ibelievethe real fatherof cinematographyisEadweard
Muybridge. Hismisfortune inlifemayhave beenthe greatestthingtohappeninthe worldof
movementcapture andstudy. He formedthe groundworkthat eventuallyledtobetterworkbeing
producedinan age were bettertechnologywasavailable.

5. Bibliography
EadweardMuybridge of Kingston upon Thames[exhibitionguide] (Kingston;Museum andHeritage
Centre,1984) http://www.kingston.gov.uk/browse/leisure/museum/collections/muybridge.htm
PhillipBrookman byEadweardMuybridge (Ed.)(1Sep2010)
Brian Coe,Muybridge andthe Chronophotographers(1992)
RobertBartlettHaas, Muybridge:Man inMotion (Feb1976)
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KingstonUponThamesexhibitionguide isawebsite
The last three are books