Eadweard Muybrigde, born Edward Muggeridge in Kingston Upon Thames, liked to call himself Helios (like the Greek Sun God) because of his affinity to light - the key to his photographic practice. His photographs are seen as important today as they demonstrated a great innovative quality. He was the one who first realised that with a sequence of photographs he could create the second to second movement of objects. The most iconic sequence is of a horse galloping.
He took the first steps towards animation as we know it today. It is obvious to me that Muybridge was interested in both science and art. His sequences are both aesthetically beautiful and informative documentations of life.
His photographic practice reached past the point other photographers had reached; progressing past still photography and into animation made is what allows us to label him a photographic pioneer.
He even invented a gadget called a "zoopraxiscope" to animate his sequences so that a once still horse came to life and galloped ahead. He was obsessed with optical phenomenon. By taking two photographs of the same scene but from acutely different angles and viewing it through a stereoscope it becomes 3D.
An example of a zoopraxiscope.
This theme of theme of time becoming visible in space carries through even to his landscape photography. On his expeditions in California, Panama and Guatemala, he photographed seeming unoccupied and untouched lands - emphasising the fact that it was Mother Nature who had spent time carving and shaping the mountains and valleys. The landscapes themselves are evidence of time.
In 1878, Muybridge set out to create a panoramic photograph of San Fransisco. Having built a tower on Nob Hill, he spent the day completing the documentation. Laid out, the print is 17 feet long. This means that the viewer has to walk along the length to take it all in. What stood out was the time and effort taken to photograph the panorama: getting to San Fransisco, building a tower and then hours to capture it on camera. When I was in San Fransisco, I captured it in a few snap shots. Muybridge managed to capture the essence of the city as it was before nature has taken its toll (San Fransisco soon experienced an earthquake and then a fire and was then rebuilt). The image is a snippet of time itself of a view that can never be recreated.
Through research, I found that Muybridge's work related to other photographers of his time:-
Carleton Watkins 1829 – 1916
Eadweard Muybridge 1830 - 1904
Ansel Adams 1902 - 1984
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