Eadweard Muybridge English photographer Date of Birth: 09.04.1830 Country: Great Britain

1. Biography of Eadweard Muybridge
2. Early Life and Career
3. The Horse in Motion
4. Expanding the Study of Motion
5. Later Life and Legacy

Biography of Eadweard Muybridge

Eadweard Muybridge was an English photographer who developed a system for capturing the sequence of movements of humans and animals through a series of photographs taken at specific time intervals. He also invented a special device called the "zoopraxiscope," which rapidly projected individual images one after another, creating the illusion of movement.

Early Life and Career

Muybridge was born on April 9, 1830, in Kingston upon Thames, England. In 1852, he moved to the United States, where he photographed views of the Pacific coast on behalf of the American government and worked as a photographer on an expedition to Alaska. By 1872, Muybridge had become a successful professional photographer when he met philanthropist Leland Stanford, who claimed that a galloping horse lifts all four legs off the ground simultaneously. With Stanford's financial support, Muybridge attempted to prove this theory through photography.

The Horse in Motion

Muybridge constructed a battery of 24 automatically triggered cameras arranged parallel to a racing track. As a galloping horse passed by the cameras, it broke a thread connected to the shutter release hook of each camera, capturing a series of images one after another. These sequential photographs proved Stanford's claim to be true.

Expanding the Study of Motion

Harnessing this technique, Muybridge sought to expand the study of motion. He was invited to the University of Pennsylvania to continue his research. The work, started in 1884 and completed in 1885, was published by the university under the title "Animal Locomotion" in 1887. Over 100,000 photographs were used to prepare this publication, capturing more than 20,000 animals and humans. The 11-volume set contained 781 photogravures. Abbreviated versions of the publication, "The Human Figure in Motion" (1901) and "Animals in Motion" (1899), each containing about 100 illustrations, were reissued in 1955 and 1957, respectively. Other notable books by the researcher include "The Horse in Motion" (1878) and "Descriptive Zoopraxography" (1893).

Later Life and Legacy

In 1900, Muybridge returned to his hometown of Kingston upon Thames, where he passed away on May 8, 1904. His collection of photographs and the zoopraxiscope are currently on display at the public library in the city.