normalizing it all

Horse In Motion: Animated Gif of Sequential Photos

Edweard Muybridge visited the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1887 to personally make a presentation of his eleven volume “Illustrations of Animal Locomotion”. They later purchased the text. An exhibition titled “Helios: Eadweard Muybridge in a Time of Change”  at the Corcoran displaying Muybridge’s groundbreaking photography and motion studies has just concluded. I had the joy of spending a few hours at the exhibit in close study. As an added and unrelated bonus I was also able to see a new exhibit on the artist Chuck Close.

Artists and scientists have long had an interest in human anatomy and motion. Over the last 50 years, movement and gait have been analyzed using gait plates, computer force distribution systems, electromyogram (EMG) and video. When, where and how did modern analytic methods develop? What was their antecedent? Most textbooks and articles are skimpy at best about much of the early history of the study of locomotion and movement.

The science of  biomechanics has forgotten about the 19^th century developments that made for rapid progress in the last 100 years. The historical memories of biomechanics seem to start in the 20^th century with Morton’s observations, and Elftman, Inman and Mann’s theories. Artists, however, remember Muybridge,  and going further back, it is clear that Michelangelo was deeply interested in anatomy and Leonardo (performed dissections and) wanted to know how everything worked. Along the way to the present, many other artists and scientists studied and observed animal and human movement. But until the late 19^th century there was no technology available to capture data and information of movement.

Edweard Muybridge  (1830-1904) was the first to systematically develop equipment and techniques to photograph the movement of quadripedal and bipedal gait along with a variety of other movements, motions, and human athletic activities.  In 1877 Muybridge was hired by Leland Stanford to demonstrate that all 4 limbs were off the ground at one point during the trotting gait of a horse. Muybridge developed an automatically triggering electronic shutter. In 1878, Muybridge hooked up a series of about a dozen cameras to automatically and sequentially fire and record the gait of a horse.  While exposures at that time were often several minutes long, the 12 exposures occurred over about half a second.  A highly contrasting, light background was designed to enhance the image. A numbering system was used which gave positional and, indirectly, timing information. Stanford ultimately won his bet and was able to use Muybridge’s photographs to demonstrate that all of the horses feet left the ground during a trot.

Out of the studies of motion that Muybridge did came several breakthroughs that were noted by Rebecca Solnit in “River of Shadows”.

1)   An electronic automatically triggered shutter, which Muybridge felt would revolutionize photography.

2)   Advances in plates and development which could capture movement and allowed for capture of an image in less time than anyone had accomplished previously.

3)   Capturing of several images that could be mounted together to represent a cycle of motion (such as a gait cycle) rather than a single isolated moment.

4)   The possibility of sequencing and showing an image sequence as a moving picture to reanimate the movement as a moving picture.

The first and second breakthroughs were accomplished in 1877, the other breakthroughs came in 1878 and 1879. It took celluloid and other much later developments to bring a motion picture industry to life. But both the methodical study of movement and a film industry had their beginnings with the work of Muybridge.

Early technology was so bad that images were often barely discernable and had to be painted in. In some cases the images were filled in and then re-photographed by Muybridge. (The equivalent of photoshopping your work today.) Ultimately, however, Muybridge recorded many sequences of activity making up  about 11 volumes. The complete set of volumes was sold to the Corcoran museum in Washington, DC in the 1890’s for $600.

Stanford published a text on the movement of animals , while Muybridge was lecturing in England and employed by a professional society. Many images drawn after Muybridge’s plates and several of his images were used while the text gave Muybridge no credit for the work.

Muybridge’s work has often been discounted as merely “art”, but it was an important qualitative look at movement. Diagrams in modern texts detailing varieties of normal and abnormal gait look like they were sketched from his plates or photographed using methods similar to his. He influenced many artists, worked with Thomas Eakins and inspired Marcel Duchamp to paint “Nude Descending A Staircase“. Clearly there is inspiration, emotion, and art in his work, but using the scientific analysis and invention he was at the forefront in creating techniques that were later used to quantify motion and gait analysis. His text “Animals In Motion” has long been used by illustrators to draw sequences which when put together will stream as a moving animal. His work had great impact on animation and led to the development of film. Look for more details on Muybridge on my main website in the near future.

The Helios exhibit will next be seen at the Tate Britain in London from September 8, 2010 through January 16, 2011, and will finish at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art from February 26 through June 7, 2011.

References:

River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West. Penguin Books. 2003.

Helios: Eadweard Muybridge in a Time of Change. Philip Brookman. Corcoran Gallery of Art. 2010. (Exhibit and Catalog)

Picturing Time: The Work of Etienne Jules Marey. Marta Braun. University of Chicago Press: 1992.

Muybridge Motion Study

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