Eadweard Muybridge was an English photographer known for his motion based studies. He became world famous after his large photograph of Yosemite Valley was made public. He began experimenting with motion in 1872 after he was hired to prove that during a horses trot, all four of it’s legs will be off the ground at a specific moment in time. At first, it was a struggle due to not having a fast shutter on his camera, he was then interrupted from his study due to being tried for the murder of his wife’s lover.
In 1877 he continued his research into motion photography where he created a fast shutter having an exposure time of of 2/1000 of a second which thoroughly helped him alongside side this study. He was widely criticized for his work as many people did not believe that it was possible for all four legs would be able to simultaneously be off the ground at the same time. To try and prove his work, he began giving lectures on animal locomotion which were illustrated using a Zoopraxiscope, a projection of images which moved very quickly rotating on a glass disc creating the illusion of moving image which Muybridge invented.
The image above is one of his studies showing a hose jumping over a hurdle, I find it so interesting as it seems quite advanced for this time period with the fast shutter speed and making moving image, but it is so attractive and striking. I also love the concept behind why he began these studies of stop motion, which was a fairly scientific reason having the prove and show that at a moment in time, all four of the horses legs were off the ground.
For this project, I am planning on making 2 types of zoetropes to show a short animation regarding 2 Greek mythology stories, so Muybridge has really helped me to see how it can be executed and put across.