Eadweard Muybridge
Born: April 9, 1830 in Kingston upon Thames, England
Died: May 8, 1904
Education: Muybridge had no formal education
Occupations before/after photography: Muybridge was a bookseller prior to being a photographer. After he retired, he wrote two more books on his findings through photography about locomotion. While he was a photographer, he also was an inventor.
Why a photographer: After his accident, his physician recommended a new career, to which he took up professional photography
Personal Life Events:
-At age 20, Muybridge emigrated to New York from England, giving him a complete change in environment and opportunity
-In 1860, Muybridge had a serious stagecoach accident
-Muybridge killed Major Harry Larkins, his wife's lover and possibly her son's biological father. Following this, he payed for the boy's foster care, but otherwise ignored him and indulged in his work
Muybridge's Style: Prior to 1872, his style mostly consisted of landscape and architectural photography. At the time, his photos of Yosemite Valley made him well known, but are less regarded today compared to his later, larger accomplishments. In 1872, Muybridge documented animal movement, to which most of his photography following this would be stylistically locomotive.
Photography Introduction: Following Muybridge's stagecoach accident, he moved to England. While recovering, his physician recommended a new career, to which Muybridge took up photography
Influences: After Muybridge's Yosemite photos, he became more recognized for his work. The US government hired him to take photos in various locations to which he traveled the world to take photos as requested. He then was needed to solve a problem about a horse's gallop, to which he later went into more detail about locomotion with different actions, point of views, and subjects
Contributions:
-
Muybridge's work made major contributions to society. He was able to slow motion enough to get clear pictures, something otherwise thought to be impossible at the time. He opened up science to being able to document at nearly any speed. He was also an inventor, to which one of his inventions called a zoopraxiscope, allowed a series of negatives to be projected continuously, as the beginning of animation and cinema.
-
Muybridge's other invention allowed photographers to use a faster shutter speed than anything else provided in that point in time. This allowed photos to be taken faster than the eye can see.
Artist associations: While in Philadelphia in 1884, Muybridge worked with painter Thomas Eakins to teach him about photography and motion. Muybridge also visited Étienne-Jules Marey's studio, to which they influenced each other.