Lecture Notes: Eadweard Muybridge and the Beginnings of Motion Photography

Introduction

• Lecture discusses the life and work of Eadweard Muybridge.
• Details Muybridge's contributions to photography and early cinema.

Early Photography Challenges

• Photography was a new medium during Muybridge's time.
• Photographers had to invent their own cameras and chemical processes.

Muybridge's Landscape Photography

• Began career photographing Yosemite.
• Used a bulky camera and portable darkroom.
• Captured dramatic landscapes by accessing difficult terrains.

The Horse Motion Controversy

• Debate on whether a trotting horse's feet are all off the ground simultaneously.
• Leland Stanford, a railroad magnate, hired Muybridge to investigate.

Muybridge's Motion Study Technique

• Constructed a track with multiple cameras connected by wires.
• Camera triggers were activated by the horse to capture motion.
• Proved horse's feet leave the ground simultaneously but beneath the body.

Impact of Muybridge's Findings

• Muybridge's photos caused a sensation.
• Disproved traditional representations of horse motion in art.
• Influenced artists and painters; noted reaction from painter Mison yay.

Innovations in Motion Photography

• Experimented with optical gadgets: zoetrope, phenakistoscope.
• Invented the "zoopraxiscope," a precursor to cinema.
• Enabled rapid sequence viewing of still images, akin to motion pictures.

Personal Scandal and Trial

• Discovered his wife's affair with Harry Larkyns.
• Muybridge shot Larkyns dead and was tried for murder.
• His defense emphasized his "benign madness" using his risky photography practices as evidence.
• Jury found him not guilty and not mad.

Legacy of Eadweard Muybridge

• Continued creating motion studies of humans and animals.
• His work laid the foundation for modern cinema and animation.
• Every movie and animation today carries his legacy.

Conclusion

• Muybridge's life was marked by innovation and controversy.
• His contributions remain pivotal in the evolution of visual media.