Muybridge's Pioneering Motion Pictures
Discover how Muybridge captured and animated a frozen moment to change how the world was viewed and presented
Who is Eadweard Muybridge?
Eadweard Muybridge (1830 - 1904) was a pioneering photographer and inventor. He is internationally renowned for his ground-breaking movement studies and moving image projection which was the first of its kind. Muybridge's achievements immensely influenced many aspects of our modern culture, including visual arts, film, animation and many more.
Galloping (1878-79) by Eadweard Muybridge Kingston Museum
Muybridge solved a riddle of whether a horse takes all four feet off the ground while galloping, by capturing this very moment on his camera.
The Zoopraxiscope (c. 1880s) by Eadweard Muybridge Kingston Museum
He also invented the ingenious motion picture projector, the ‘Zoopraxiscope’ which was the first projector showing moving images of photographic live motion. Muybridge used the Zoopraxiscope to illustrate his lectures in the US and Europe.
Coronation Stone (1850) by Unknown Kingston Museum
Muybridge's real name was Edward James Muggeridge, but he later changed his last name to Muybridge. Changing his first name, from Edward to Eadweard, may have been influenced by the name of Anglo-Saxon Kings on the Coronation Stone in Kingston.
Portrait of Muybridge (c. 1850s) by Unknown Kingston Museum
As a young man, Muybridge wanted adventure and was keen to see the world. He set off for the United States in 1850 and initially worked as a bookseller in New York.
Butterfield Overland Mail Company Coach (Unknown) by Unknown Kingston Museum
After sustaining a head injury from a serious stagecoach accident in 1860, Muybridge returned to England where he gradually recovered. During this time in England, Muybridge invented a washing machine and plate-printing apparatus, as well as acquiring his photographic skills.
Muybridge and athlete (1878-79) by Eadweard Muybridge Kingston Museum
After over 40 years of a remarkable career abroad, Muybridge returned to his hometown Kingston in 1894 where he spent his last years until his death in 1904. Muybridge donated his own collection to Kingston Museum.
Four Feet Off The Ground
In 1872, railroad tycoon and horse breeder, Leland Stanford employed Muybridge to photograph his horses to prove that a horse takes all four feet off the ground at one point when galloping.
Governor Leland Stanford (c. 1877) by Eadweard Muybridge Kingston Museum
Portrait of Leland Stanford (c. 1877), Governor of California and President of the Central Pacific Railroad who financed Muybridge's motion studies in the 1870s
In 1878, Muybridge continued his innovative sequence photography of horses in motion at Palo Alto stock farm, California. He set up 24 cameras in a row every 12 inches, each of which had an electromagnetic shutter with a speed of one-thousandth of a second. The shutters were tripped by wires as a horse ran across the track. Put together in a series, the images taken by these cameras showed how a horse moved, in a way which had never been shown before. Muybridge also photographed other animals and humans in various movements.
Electro exposures (1878-89) by Eadweard Muybridge Kingston Museum
Electo-exposures (1878-79)
Electromagnetic timer mechanism (1878-79) by Eadweard Muybridge Kingston Museum
Electromagnetic timer mechanism for camera shutters (1878-80)
Drawing of electromagnetic timer mechanisam (1878-79) by Eadweard Muybridge Kingston Museum
Technical drawing of the electromagnetic timer mechanism for camera shutters (1878-80)
Deer running (1878-79) by Eadweard Muybridge Kingston Museum
Deer running (1878-79)
Cantering (1878-79) by Eadweard Muybridge Kingston Museum
Horse 'Gypsy' cantering and man running behind (1878-79)
Ox running (1878-79) by Eadweard Muybridge Kingston Museum
Ox running (1878-79)
In the 1880s, Muybridge further developed his ground-breaking studies of motion at the University of Pennsylvania. He took more than 20,000 photographs of animals and people in different movements. Muybridge published these seminal works in his book 'Animal Locomotion' in 1887.
Dancing (1884-86) by Eadweard Muybridge Kingston Museum
Woman dancing (1884-86)
Starting for a run (1884-86) by Eadweard Muybridge Kingston Museum
Starting for a run (1884-86)
Descending a step (1884-86) by Eadweard Muybridge Kingston Museum
Nude man (Muybridge) descending a step (1884-86)
Boxing with gloves (1884-86) by Eadweard Muybridge Kingston Museum
Two men boxing (1884-86)
Back somersault (1884-86) by Eadweard Muybridge Kingston Museum
Back somersault (1884-86).Shorts painted on the image by Muybridge
Jumping over boy's back (1884-86) by Eadweard Muybridge Kingston Museum
Jumping over boy's back (1884-86)
Jumping down (1884-86) by Eadweard Muybridge Kingston Museum
Jumping down (1884-86)
Fencing (1884-86) by Eadweard Muybridge Kingston Museum
Fencing (1884-86)
Daisy' trotting, saddled (1884-86) by Eadweard Muybridge Kingston Museum
'Daisy' trotting, saddled (1844-46)
Pandora' jumping a hurdle (1884-86) by Eadweard Muybridge Kingston Museum
'Pandora' jumping a hurdle (1884-86)
Movement of the hand, clasping hands (1884-86) by Eadweard Muybridge Kingston Museum
Movement of the hand, clasping hands (1884-86)
Ruth' bucking and kicking (1884-86) by Eadweard Muybridge Kingston Museum
'Ruth' bucking and kicking (1884-86)
Hornet' jumping over three horses (1884-86) by Eadweard Muybridge Kingston Museum
'Hornet' jumping over three horses (1884-86)
Lion walking (1884-86) by Eadweard Muybridge Kingston Museum
Lion walking (1884-86)
Cockatoo flying (1884-86) by Eadweard Muybridge Kingston Museum
Cockatoo flying (1884-86)
Bactrian camel galloping (1884-86) by Eadweard Muybridge Kingston Museum
Bactrian camel galloping (1884-86)
Ike' and 'Maggie' racing (1884-86) by Eadweard Muybridge Kingston Museum
'Ike' and 'Maggie' racing (1884-86)
Life-Action-View, the Zoopraxiscope
In 1879, Muybridge invented a motion picture projector, the Zoopraxiscope (meaning ‘life-action-view’ in Greek). Muybridge’s photographs of animals and humans were traced onto the edge of a glass disc. When the glass disc spun in the projector, a moving picture was projected onto a screen, creating an endlessly repeated short movement, like animated GIF images.
Muybridge toured all around America, Britain and Europe giving his famous projection lectures for around 15 years. His lectures were attended by a variety of people, including the general public, artists, scientists and even royalty! The Zoopraxiscope was a pioneering device which contributed immensely to the evolution of cinematography and animation.
Running horses and horse and rider (c. 1880s) by Eadweard Muybridge Kingston Museum
Zoopraxiscope disc (c. 1880s)Running horses and one ring of horse and rider moving in opposite direction
Boys leapfrog (c. 1880s) by Eadweard Muybridge Kingston Museum
Muybridge later tried to make the images on his Zoopraxiscope discs more realistic by introducing colours to them.
Woman dancing (c. 1880s) by Eadweard Muybridge Kingston Museum
Detail of Zoopraxiscope disc (c. 1880s)Woman dancing
Monkeys climb (c. 1880s) by Eadweard Muybridge Kingston Museum
Detail of Zoopraxiscope disc (c. 1880s)Monkeys climb.
Story prepared by Seoyoung Kim, Curator at Kingston Museum, with the Eadweard Muybridge Collection of Kingston Museum.
Kingston Heritage Service
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