Andrew Kober
Professor Sarah Wichlachz
P108 History and Survey of Photography
April 26, 2011
Notes from Motion and Pictorialism Photography
Motion Photography
• Watched the video reenactment “Teseract”
Eadweard Muybridge
• Used a primitive shutter
• Produced Panoramics
• Bookseller in San Francisco
• Famous for “stopping motion” or “capturing motion”
• Had a bet with California Governor about whether or not a horse legs all lift off the ground when it gallops.
• Governor bet $30,000 dollars that the horse had at least one hoof on the ground.
• The governor spent a little over $30,000 dollars to on photo equipment for Muybridge to conduct his experiment.
• Muybridge used 12 cameras lined up in a row to capture the horse galloping.
• Each camera had a string strung out across where the horse would be galloping and each was attached to the camera’s shutter so the horse would trip the shutter as it passed by each camera.
• Photos were turned into Lithographs and his shutter speeds were 1/500.
• Muybridge won the bet and used his earnings to help fund his work.
• Muybridge published two books on locomotion Animal Locomotion and Human Locomotion
• Invented the Zoopraxiscope which were glass discs used to make the multiple still frames turn into moving pictures when projected
• His wife cheated on him so Muybridge shot and killed the man she was having an affair with and then went to prison. When he got out he continued his work as if nothing had happened.
Thomas Eakins
• Used photography to help him with his abstract paintings
• Experimented with Locomotion
• Took photos of Walt Whitman
Etienne Jueles
• French Photographer who studied how blood moved within the body
• Studied how birds fly
• Made 12 lens camera that took photos on one negative
Marvey
• Known for Chronophotography
• Invented a camera that would capture stills as fast as the operator turned the crank on the device
• Did early studies of aerodynamics
• Made a camera that looked like an actual gun to help with taking photos of birds
• Produced the first motion suit with white balls like more modern motions for video games and computer generated movies.
Pictorialism
• Came from naturalism
• Mimicked Impressionism
• Pictures were made to look hand crafted
Frederick Holland Day
• Open gay book seller
• Took a lot of male nudes
• Used soft focus on photos
• Grainy images to look like pastels
• Dated black men
• Photographed diverse groups
• Jailed for sodomy
• After incarceration he got depressed and never took a photo again after his studio was burned down.
Kusebier
• Began at Prat to learn to paint
• Found photography after failing at his attempts to paint
• Would paint on the photosensitive chemicals to leave brush strokes in his images.
• Scratched and generally messed up his photos to add an artistic feel to it
• Took a lot of photos dealing with children and maternity
Birgman
• Influenced by Japanese work
• Did a lot of bubble stuff
• Grew up in Hawaii
• Got into trouble for taking nudes of her husband
Demachy
• French impressionist photographer who sometimes drew on his negatives.
• http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/pict/hd_pict.htm
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iewWWCYMRxs
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xMz2SnSWS4
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aXTssz-5Os&feature=related
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnSdmQ2IGYE
