By increasing camera shutter speeds and slowing time to a fraction of a second, British American photographer Eadweard Muybridge laid the foundation of the moving image. Using multiple cameras triggered by trip wires, he captured a galloping horse in sequential images, reproduced them in a zoetrope and created the world’s first moving photographs.
While Muybridge froze moments on separate photographs, French scientist Étienne-Jules Marey’s chronophotographic technique captured kinetic motion through multiple exposures in one photo. He used a photographic rifle with a revolving cylinder that shot 12 frames a second.
Meanwhile, American professor Harold ‘Doc’ Edgerton’s pioneering development of the electric stroboscopic flash suspended movement, stopping skipping ropes mid-swing – and even speeding bullets.
Eadweard Muybridge's Horse in motion (1878)
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Not in ACMI's collection
On display until
16 February 2031
ACMI: Gallery 1
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Curatorial section
The Story of the Moving Image → Moving Worlds → MW-03. Production Design → MW-03-C03