Stopping Time with Images

Persistence of Vision

Thaumatrope● Developed by Fitton

in 1825● Two sided object

rapidly flipped from one side to the other causing images to fuse

Early Photographic Systems● Pohtography involved

mixing and applying chemicals, some light-sensitive

● 5 seconds – 20 minutes of exposure

● Instantaneous is under ½ second in 1868

Leland Stanford● California

businessman, lawyer, and governor

● Founded Stanford University

● First president of the Central Pacific Railroad

● Horse enthusiast

How do Horses Run?● Common belief that horse always had at least

one hoof on the ground at all times● Much debate and Stanford wanted definitive

proof● Does a running horse ever have all legs off

the ground?

Eadweard Muybridge● Born in England in 1830● Pre-eminent Photographer

of California Landscapes● Took up Stanford's

challenge ● Initial results in 1872● Shot wife's lover point blank

and was later acquitted● Satisfactory results in 1878

Experiment● 12 Cameras

● 22 inches apart

● Bright sunny day

● White screen behing horse

● Sheets on track

Experiment● Gravity driven

shutter, activated by pin connected to string streched across track

● 1/1000th of a second exposure times

Results

Results

Zoopraxiscope● Invented by Muybridge

in 1879 to show his image sequences

● Never a commercial success

Zoopraxiscope

Phenakistoscope

Zoetrope

International Acclaim● Muybridge continues work on animals and

athletes, publishing in 1881● Stanford scheduled to presents results in

Paris in 188, but Muybridge does instead● Muybridge recieves international fame and

reputation● He and Stanford have a falling-out

Motion Studies● Moved to U of Pennsylvania in 1884● Many studies of people and animals● Published results in a book

– 781 Plates

– Animal Locomotion: An Electrophotographic Investigation of Consecutive Phases of Animal Movements, 1872-1885.

Results

Results

Muybridge Motion Studies● http://photo.ucr.edu/photographers/

muybridge/contents.html

Harold ''Doc'' Edgerton● 1903-1990

● Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

● Developed stroboscopic photography in 1931

Harold ''Doc'' Edgerton● Kicking a football

– 1934 and 1938

Making Applesauce

.30 Bullet Piercing an Apple, 1964 A microsecond exposure of a bullet travelling 2800 feet per second.

Edgerton

Dove release, 1965

Edgerton

Edgerton