Eadweard Muybridge

Jul 28, 2025

Discover the life of Eadweard Muybridge, a pioneer of motion photography known for his invention of the zoopraxiscope. Explore his tumultuous past, including a gripping murder trial linked to his wife's affair. Delve into his innovative techniques that captured the motion of horses and transformed visual storytelling. From his experiences in Yosemite to unique marketing strategies, Muybridge's legacy is as compelling as it is groundbreaking, blending personal struggles with remarkable artistic achievements.

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INSIGHT

Mobile Studio and Sky Shade Innovation

Muybridge’s mobile photography studio allowed him to capture dramatic, inaccessible landscapes.
His sky shade innovation prevented overexposure, preserving detail rarely seen in photos then.

ANECDOTE

Muybridge and Flora Stone's Marriage

Muybridge married the much younger Flora Stone after helping her get a divorce from a cruel husband.
Their distinct personalities made their match odd, but Muybridge reportedly truly loved her.

INSIGHT

Capturing Horses Mid-Gait

Muybridge solved photographing a horse in motion using spring-triggered boards creating a brief shutter opening.
This breakthrough captured clear images of rapid movement previously unseen by the human eye.

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The invention Eadweard Muybridge is known for is his zoopraxiscope, an early movie technology. But he also innovated in photography, had some other inventions, and was the defendant in a murder trial.

Research:

Ball, Edward. “The Inventor and the Tycoon: A Gilded Age Murder and the Birth of Moving Pictures.” Doubleday. 2013.
Cohen, Paula Marantz. “Flickering Like Photography.” Times Literary Supplement. https://www.the-tls.com/lives/biography/scoundrel-harry-larkyns-pitiless-killing-photographer-eadweard-muybridge-rebecca-gowers-review
“A Fast Trotter Caught by a Skillful Artist on the Fly.” The Lamar Republican. May 29, 1873. https://www.newspapers.com/image/666936878/?match=1&terms=occident%20Muybridge%20
“Madness and Murder.” Whidbey Island Center for the Arts. https://www.wicaonline.org/blog/2020/2/2/1rmzzg46joal5ajvy4tesnui7v314p
“A Startling Tragedy.” Los Angeles Herald. October 22, 1874. https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LAH18741022.2.15&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Eadweard Muybridge". Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Jun. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Eadweard-Muybridge
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Leland Stanford". Encyclopedia Britannica, 17 Jun. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leland-Stanford
Higgins, Charlotte. “Eadweard Muybridge's motion towards Tate Britain.” The Guardian. April 27, 2010. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/apr/27/eadweard-muybridge-tate-britain-motion-studies
“The Last Call.” San Francisco Examiner. Jul 19, 1875. https://www.newspapers.com/image/457599375/?match=1&terms=Harry%20Larkyns
Shimamura, Arthur P. “Muybridge in Motion: Travels in Art, Psychology and Neurology.” History of Photography. 2002. https://doi.org/10.1080/03087298.2002.10443307
Muybridge, Eadweard. “Animal Locomotion. An Electro-Photographic Investigation of Consecutive Phases of Animal Movements. Commenced 1872 - Completed 1885. Volume XI, Wild Animals and Birds.” Met Museum. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/266431
Manjila, S., Singh, G., Alkhachroum, A. M., & Ramos-Estebanez, C. (2015). Understanding Edward Muybridge: historical review of behavioral alterations after a 19th-century head injury and their multifactorial influence on human life and culture. Neurosurgical Focus FOC, 39(1), E4. https://doi.org/10.3171/2015.4.FOCUS15121
Prodger, Phillip and Tom Gunning. “Time Stands Still: Muybridge and the Instantaneous Photography Movement.” Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University, 2003
Solnit, Rebecca. “River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West.” Viking, 2003.
Wolf, Byron. “Eadweard Muybridge’s Secret Cloud Collection.” Places Journal. September 2017. https://placesjournal.org/article/eadweard-muybridges-secret-cloud-collection/?cn-reloaded=1

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