Eadweard Muybridge: The Man Obsessed with Sequence Photography
Fujifilm Square
Starts 10/1
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Eadweard Muybridge
The FUJIFILM SQUARE Photo History Museum is pleased to present a selection of photographs based on Animal Locomotion, published in 1887 by the English-born Eadweard Muybridge, who worked as a photographer in the 19th century. The works on display are selected from the photo collection owned by FUJIFILM Corporation.
Approximately 150 years ago, Eadweard Muybridge (1830–1904) became the first person in the world to successfully capture sequence photographs of a running horse. As a pioneer of film, moving images, and animation, Muybridge is considered one of the foremost photographers in the history of the visual arts. In 1872, he started to experiment with taking photographs of a running horse at the request of industrialist Leland Stanford, the former governor of the state of California. In 1877, he successfully captured the instant when a galloping horse was off the ground with all four legs folded beneath its torso. In 1878, he also successfully captured a galloping horse in a photo sequence of 12 frames, which caused a sensation in Europe and North America. In 1879, he invented the zoopraxiscope, a device for projecting a sequence of photographs in succession. The zoopraxiscope is thought to have given Thomas Edison the idea that led to the invention of the Kinetoscope projector in 1889.
Muybridge's Animal Locomotion (1887) is a collection of photographs in the form of a portfolio of 11 volumes containing as many as 781 plates of sequence photographs recording animal and human motion in detail. A man obsessed, Muybridge poured his heart and soul into capturing sequence photographs, using the photographs to analyze movement of all kinds—including the different gaits of horses, the movements of animals such as dogs and camels, the flight of cockatoos and other birds, as well as human motion and everyday movements. To produce his timeless sequence photographs, Muybridge used the camera to freeze the motion and connect the individual instants. As the origin of moving images, the photographs are still used as a manual by animators worldwide.
For this exhibition, we have carefully selected 21 photogravure*1 plates from the 107 plates of sequence photographs in the Animal Locomotion portfolio in the collection at FUJIFILM Corporation. We will also display related and rare works from valuable books on photography in the collection. They include The Horse in Motion (1882), which contains photographs by Muybridge, and Le vol des oiseaux (The flight of birds, 1890) by French physiologist Étienne-Jules Marey (1830–1904), a contemporary of Muybridge and the inventor of the photographic gun.*2
Eadweard Muybridge revolutionized the visual arts through photography. We hope you will enjoy the historical works that became the origin of moving images.
Approximately 150 years ago, Eadweard Muybridge (1830–1904) became the first person in the world to successfully capture sequence photographs of a running horse. As a pioneer of film, moving images, and animation, Muybridge is considered one of the foremost photographers in the history of the visual arts. In 1872, he started to experiment with taking photographs of a running horse at the request of industrialist Leland Stanford, the former governor of the state of California. In 1877, he successfully captured the instant when a galloping horse was off the ground with all four legs folded beneath its torso. In 1878, he also successfully captured a galloping horse in a photo sequence of 12 frames, which caused a sensation in Europe and North America. In 1879, he invented the zoopraxiscope, a device for projecting a sequence of photographs in succession. The zoopraxiscope is thought to have given Thomas Edison the idea that led to the invention of the Kinetoscope projector in 1889.
Muybridge's Animal Locomotion (1887) is a collection of photographs in the form of a portfolio of 11 volumes containing as many as 781 plates of sequence photographs recording animal and human motion in detail. A man obsessed, Muybridge poured his heart and soul into capturing sequence photographs, using the photographs to analyze movement of all kinds—including the different gaits of horses, the movements of animals such as dogs and camels, the flight of cockatoos and other birds, as well as human motion and everyday movements. To produce his timeless sequence photographs, Muybridge used the camera to freeze the motion and connect the individual instants. As the origin of moving images, the photographs are still used as a manual by animators worldwide.
For this exhibition, we have carefully selected 21 photogravure*1 plates from the 107 plates of sequence photographs in the Animal Locomotion portfolio in the collection at FUJIFILM Corporation. We will also display related and rare works from valuable books on photography in the collection. They include The Horse in Motion (1882), which contains photographs by Muybridge, and Le vol des oiseaux (The flight of birds, 1890) by French physiologist Étienne-Jules Marey (1830–1904), a contemporary of Muybridge and the inventor of the photographic gun.*2
Eadweard Muybridge revolutionized the visual arts through photography. We hope you will enjoy the historical works that became the origin of moving images.
Schedule | Oct 1 (Wed) 2025-Dec 26 (Fri) 2025 Opening Hours Information
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| Fee | Free | ||||
| Website | https://fujifilmsquare.jp/en/exhibition/251001_05.html | ||||
| Venue | Fujifilm Square http://fujifilmsquare.jp/en/ | ||||
| Location | 1F West, Tokyo Midtown, 9-7-3 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0052 | ||||
| Access | Direct walk from exit 8 at Roppongi Station on the Toei Oedo or Hibiya line, 5 minute walk from exit 3 at Nogizaka Station on the Chiyoda line. | ||||
| Phone | 03-6271-3350 | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
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