ers we discussed. A quick synopsis for you would be: Expatriate Englishman EJM was born April 9, 1830, gained worldwide fame photographing animal and human movement imperceptible to the human eye and was considered the father of motion pictures. He was hired in 1872 by railroad baron and former California governor Leland Stanford to settle a question that there was a point in a horse's full gallop when all four hooves were off the ground. By 1878 he had successfully photographed a horse in fast motion using a series of fifty cameras. Each of the cameras were arranged along a track parallel to the horse's, and each of the camera shutters were controlled by trip wires which were triggered by the horse's hooves. This series of photos, taken at what is now Stanford University, is called "The Horse in Motion" and shows that, indeed, the hooves all leave the ground, although not at the point of full extension forward and back, as contemporary illustrators tended to imagine, but rather at the moment when all the hooves are tucked under the horse, as it switches from "pulling" from the front legs to "pushing" from the back legs. So that's the quick synopsis of why he was famous. A few more facts about him tell that he was originally born with the name of Edward, but changed it to Eadweard to match that of King Eadweard of England. He changed his last name from Muggeridge to Muydridge and then Muybridge after he had emigrated to America. He started his career as a publisher's agent and bookseller, but developed an interest in photography while recovering from a near-death stagecoach accident in England. He started gaining a photography name for himself in 1867 with photos of Yosemite and San Francisco. This was where he met Mr. Stanford. Then, in 1874, while in the bay area, he discovered that his wife had a lover by the name of Major Harry Larkyns and on October 17, 1874 shot him to death after saying to him, "Good evening, Major. My name is Muybridge and here is the answer to the letter you sent my wife." He tried to get acquitted because of his stagecoach accident years before, but was incredibly acquitted on the grounds that it was "justifiable homicide." EJM left the US and traveled to Central America for a time to photograph, but returned again in 1877 and eventually finished his assignment for Leland Stanford the following year. It was at this time that he invented the Zoopraxiscope, a machine that projected the images he would take of aminals so that the public could see realistic motion. The system was a precursor to the development of motion pictures by Thomas Edison. In the summer of 1983, the University of Pennsylvania agreed to fund his investigation into animal and human locomotion which was carried out on the grounds of their new Veterinary Department at the University. A Smithsonian Virtual Exhibition now feaures Muybridge's investigation of animal locomotion. In 1887 he published Animal Locomotion which are 781 prints of his investigative animal movement. EJM returned to England in 1894 for the last time. He died in 1904 in Kingston-on-the-Thames at the home of his cousin Catherine Smith. In my photo class's examination of Eadweard Muybridge, we briefly discuss his life and I show them a series of his experiments with human and animal movement. I have included two "YouTube" videos for you to see the work of Eadweard J. Muybridge. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.Tuesday, April 10, 2012
The "Father of Motion Pictures" Story
It was an ordinary day. Saw the "Google Doodle" yesterday was a series of boxes with horses in them. Placed there to celebrate Eadweard James Muybridge's (EJM) 182nd birthday. Never heard of Eadweard? Then you were never a student of mine in photography. I used to teach, as a part of the year-long high school class, a section on photo history, and Muybridge was one of the photographers we discussed. A quick synopsis for you would be: Expatriate Englishman EJM was born April 9, 1830, gained worldwide fame photographing animal and human movement imperceptible to the human eye and was considered the father of motion pictures. He was hired in 1872 by railroad baron and former California governor Leland Stanford to settle a question that there was a point in a horse's full gallop when all four hooves were off the ground. By 1878 he had successfully photographed a horse in fast motion using a series of fifty cameras. Each of the cameras were arranged along a track parallel to the horse's, and each of the camera shutters were controlled by trip wires which were triggered by the horse's hooves. This series of photos, taken at what is now Stanford University, is called "The Horse in Motion" and shows that, indeed, the hooves all leave the ground, although not at the point of full extension forward and back, as contemporary illustrators tended to imagine, but rather at the moment when all the hooves are tucked under the horse, as it switches from "pulling" from the front legs to "pushing" from the back legs. So that's the quick synopsis of why he was famous. A few more facts about him tell that he was originally born with the name of Edward, but changed it to Eadweard to match that of King Eadweard of England. He changed his last name from Muggeridge to Muydridge and then Muybridge after he had emigrated to America. He started his career as a publisher's agent and bookseller, but developed an interest in photography while recovering from a near-death stagecoach accident in England. He started gaining a photography name for himself in 1867 with photos of Yosemite and San Francisco. This was where he met Mr. Stanford. Then, in 1874, while in the bay area, he discovered that his wife had a lover by the name of Major Harry Larkyns and on October 17, 1874 shot him to death after saying to him, "Good evening, Major. My name is Muybridge and here is the answer to the letter you sent my wife." He tried to get acquitted because of his stagecoach accident years before, but was incredibly acquitted on the grounds that it was "justifiable homicide." EJM left the US and traveled to Central America for a time to photograph, but returned again in 1877 and eventually finished his assignment for Leland Stanford the following year. It was at this time that he invented the Zoopraxiscope, a machine that projected the images he would take of aminals so that the public could see realistic motion. The system was a precursor to the development of motion pictures by Thomas Edison. In the summer of 1983, the University of Pennsylvania agreed to fund his investigation into animal and human locomotion which was carried out on the grounds of their new Veterinary Department at the University. A Smithsonian Virtual Exhibition now feaures Muybridge's investigation of animal locomotion. In 1887 he published Animal Locomotion which are 781 prints of his investigative animal movement. EJM returned to England in 1894 for the last time. He died in 1904 in Kingston-on-the-Thames at the home of his cousin Catherine Smith. In my photo class's examination of Eadweard Muybridge, we briefly discuss his life and I show them a series of his experiments with human and animal movement. I have included two "YouTube" videos for you to see the work of Eadweard J. Muybridge. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
ers we discussed. A quick synopsis for you would be: Expatriate Englishman EJM was born April 9, 1830, gained worldwide fame photographing animal and human movement imperceptible to the human eye and was considered the father of motion pictures. He was hired in 1872 by railroad baron and former California governor Leland Stanford to settle a question that there was a point in a horse's full gallop when all four hooves were off the ground. By 1878 he had successfully photographed a horse in fast motion using a series of fifty cameras. Each of the cameras were arranged along a track parallel to the horse's, and each of the camera shutters were controlled by trip wires which were triggered by the horse's hooves. This series of photos, taken at what is now Stanford University, is called "The Horse in Motion" and shows that, indeed, the hooves all leave the ground, although not at the point of full extension forward and back, as contemporary illustrators tended to imagine, but rather at the moment when all the hooves are tucked under the horse, as it switches from "pulling" from the front legs to "pushing" from the back legs. So that's the quick synopsis of why he was famous. A few more facts about him tell that he was originally born with the name of Edward, but changed it to Eadweard to match that of King Eadweard of England. He changed his last name from Muggeridge to Muydridge and then Muybridge after he had emigrated to America. He started his career as a publisher's agent and bookseller, but developed an interest in photography while recovering from a near-death stagecoach accident in England. He started gaining a photography name for himself in 1867 with photos of Yosemite and San Francisco. This was where he met Mr. Stanford. Then, in 1874, while in the bay area, he discovered that his wife had a lover by the name of Major Harry Larkyns and on October 17, 1874 shot him to death after saying to him, "Good evening, Major. My name is Muybridge and here is the answer to the letter you sent my wife." He tried to get acquitted because of his stagecoach accident years before, but was incredibly acquitted on the grounds that it was "justifiable homicide." EJM left the US and traveled to Central America for a time to photograph, but returned again in 1877 and eventually finished his assignment for Leland Stanford the following year. It was at this time that he invented the Zoopraxiscope, a machine that projected the images he would take of aminals so that the public could see realistic motion. The system was a precursor to the development of motion pictures by Thomas Edison. In the summer of 1983, the University of Pennsylvania agreed to fund his investigation into animal and human locomotion which was carried out on the grounds of their new Veterinary Department at the University. A Smithsonian Virtual Exhibition now feaures Muybridge's investigation of animal locomotion. In 1887 he published Animal Locomotion which are 781 prints of his investigative animal movement. EJM returned to England in 1894 for the last time. He died in 1904 in Kingston-on-the-Thames at the home of his cousin Catherine Smith. In my photo class's examination of Eadweard Muybridge, we briefly discuss his life and I show them a series of his experiments with human and animal movement. I have included two "YouTube" videos for you to see the work of Eadweard J. Muybridge. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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