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The Human Figure in Motion
This is the largest selection ever made from the famous Muybridge sequence high-speed photographs of human motion. Containing 4,789 photographs, it illustrates some 163 different types of action: elderly man lifting log, woman sweeping, woman climbing ladder, men boxing and wrestling, child crawling, man lifting weight, man jumping, and 155 other types of action, some of which are illustrated by as many as 62 different photographs.
Taken at speeds ranging up to 1/6000th of a second, these photographs show bone and muscle positions against ruled backgrounds. Almost all subjects are undraped, and all actions are shown from three angles: front, rear, and three-quarter view.
These historic photographs, one of the great monuments of nineteenth-century photography, are reproduced original size, with all the clarity and detail of the originals. As a complete thesaurus of human action, it has never been superseded. Muybridge was a genius of photography, who had unlimited financial, technical, and scientific backing at the University of Pennsylvania. This volume presents the final selection from more than 100,000 negatives made at an expenditure of more than $50,000. It has never been superseded as a sourcebook for artists, students, animators, and art directors.
"An unparalleled dictionary of action for all artists, photographers." — American Artist.
"Impressive and valuable collection." — Scientific American.
Taken at speeds ranging up to 1/6000th of a second, these photographs show bone and muscle positions against ruled backgrounds. Almost all subjects are undraped, and all actions are shown from three angles: front, rear, and three-quarter view.
These historic photographs, one of the great monuments of nineteenth-century photography, are reproduced original size, with all the clarity and detail of the originals. As a complete thesaurus of human action, it has never been superseded. Muybridge was a genius of photography, who had unlimited financial, technical, and scientific backing at the University of Pennsylvania. This volume presents the final selection from more than 100,000 negatives made at an expenditure of more than $50,000. It has never been superseded as a sourcebook for artists, students, animators, and art directors.
"An unparalleled dictionary of action for all artists, photographers." — American Artist.
"Impressive and valuable collection." — Scientific American.
390 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1955
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About the author
Eadweard Muybridge
76 books16 followersEadweard James Muybridge (/ˌɛdwərd ˈmaɪbrɪdʒ/; 9 April 1830 – 8 May 1904, birth name Edward James Muggeridge) was an English photographer important for his pioneering work in photographic studies of motion, and early work in motion-picture projection. He adopted the name Eadweard Muybridge, believing it to be the original Anglo-Saxon form of his name.
He emigrated to the United States as a young man and became a bookseller. He returned to England in 1861 and took up professional photography, learning the wet-plate collodion process, and secured at least two British patents for his inventions. He went back to San Francisco in 1867, and in 1868 his large photographs of Yosemite Valley made him world famous. Today, Muybridge is known for his pioneering work on animal locomotion in 1877 and 1878, which used multiple cameras to capture motion in stop-motion photographs, and his zoopraxiscope, a device for projecting motion pictures that pre-dated the flexible perforated film strip used in cinematography.
He travelled for more than a year in Central America on a photographic expedition in 1875.
In the 1880s, Muybridge entered a very productive period at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, producing over 100,000 images of animals and humans in motion, capturing what the human eye could not distinguish as separate movements. He spent much of his later years giving public lectures and demonstrations of his photography and early motion picture sequences, traveling back to England and Europe to publicise his work. He also edited and published compilations of his work, which greatly influenced visual artists and the developing fields of scientific and industrial photography. He returned to his native England permanently in 1894, and in 1904, the Kingston Museum, containing a collection of his equipment, was opened in his hometown.
Influence:
According to an exhibition at Tate Britain, "His influence has forever changed our understanding and interpretation of the world, and can be found in many diverse fields, from Marcel Duchamp's painting Nude Descending a Staircase and countless works by Francis Bacon, to the blockbuster film The Matrix and Philip Glass's opera The Photographer."
Étienne-Jules Marey — recorded the first series of live action photos with a single camera by a method of chronophotography; influenced and was influenced by Muybridge's work
Thomas Eakins — American artist who worked with and continued Muybridge's motion studies, and incorporated the findings into his own artwork
William Dickson — credited as inventor of the motion picture camera
Thomas Edison — developed and owned patents for motion picture cameras
Marcel Duchamp — artist, painted Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2, inspired by multiple-exposure photography
Harold Eugene Edgerton — pioneered stroboscopic and high speed photography and film, producing an Oscar-winning short movie and many striking photographic sequences
Francis Bacon — painted from Muybridge photographs
John Gaeta — used the principles of Muybridge photography to create the bullet time slow-motion technique of the 1999 movie The Matrix.
Steven Pippin — so-called Young British Artist who converted a row of laundromat washing machines into sequential cameras in the style of Muybridge
Wayne McGregor — UK choreographer collaborated with composer Mark-Anthony Turnage and artist Mark Wallinger on a piece entitled "Undance", inspired by Muybridge's 'action verbs'
He emigrated to the United States as a young man and became a bookseller. He returned to England in 1861 and took up professional photography, learning the wet-plate collodion process, and secured at least two British patents for his inventions. He went back to San Francisco in 1867, and in 1868 his large photographs of Yosemite Valley made him world famous. Today, Muybridge is known for his pioneering work on animal locomotion in 1877 and 1878, which used multiple cameras to capture motion in stop-motion photographs, and his zoopraxiscope, a device for projecting motion pictures that pre-dated the flexible perforated film strip used in cinematography.
He travelled for more than a year in Central America on a photographic expedition in 1875.
In the 1880s, Muybridge entered a very productive period at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, producing over 100,000 images of animals and humans in motion, capturing what the human eye could not distinguish as separate movements. He spent much of his later years giving public lectures and demonstrations of his photography and early motion picture sequences, traveling back to England and Europe to publicise his work. He also edited and published compilations of his work, which greatly influenced visual artists and the developing fields of scientific and industrial photography. He returned to his native England permanently in 1894, and in 1904, the Kingston Museum, containing a collection of his equipment, was opened in his hometown.
Influence:
According to an exhibition at Tate Britain, "His influence has forever changed our understanding and interpretation of the world, and can be found in many diverse fields, from Marcel Duchamp's painting Nude Descending a Staircase and countless works by Francis Bacon, to the blockbuster film The Matrix and Philip Glass's opera The Photographer."
Étienne-Jules Marey — recorded the first series of live action photos with a single camera by a method of chronophotography; influenced and was influenced by Muybridge's work
Thomas Eakins — American artist who worked with and continued Muybridge's motion studies, and incorporated the findings into his own artwork
William Dickson — credited as inventor of the motion picture camera
Thomas Edison — developed and owned patents for motion picture cameras
Marcel Duchamp — artist, painted Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2, inspired by multiple-exposure photography
Harold Eugene Edgerton — pioneered stroboscopic and high speed photography and film, producing an Oscar-winning short movie and many striking photographic sequences
Francis Bacon — painted from Muybridge photographs
John Gaeta — used the principles of Muybridge photography to create the bullet time slow-motion technique of the 1999 movie The Matrix.
Steven Pippin — so-called Young British Artist who converted a row of laundromat washing machines into sequential cameras in the style of Muybridge
Wayne McGregor — UK choreographer collaborated with composer Mark-Anthony Turnage and artist Mark Wallinger on a piece entitled "Undance", inspired by Muybridge's 'action verbs'
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 19, 2018
Very similar to Muybridge's book "Animals in Motion." Pictures are aesthetically similar, but take particular focus on human form and daily activity. It is a sensitive book, however, as, you know, this book is directed towards mature artists for their studies (these are nude people -- nude is different than naked).
All in all, it is incredibly useful for animators and artists wishing to do life drawing studies, and dare I say it, this should be updated along with his many other books on the subject.
All in all, it is incredibly useful for animators and artists wishing to do life drawing studies, and dare I say it, this should be updated along with his many other books on the subject.
December 13, 2009
This book is never stationary on my book shelf for long. I use it when I am drawing as a reference for all forms of movement. Taking it the age of the photographs and the precision and layout it is an amazing collection and something I will never tire of.
November 17, 2022
I've had this wonderful book for decades. A new documentary film, Exposing Muybridge was released in 2021, looks very good which I'm really interested to see.
July 4, 2019
A consistent reference for drawing & looking at movement and relationship of shapes.
March 24, 2021
An amazing book about human movement decomposition. perfect for artists
September 27, 2018
A fantastic reference book for artists, and I was lucky enough to find this at a used bookstore on the cheap. For animators, this is probably the Bible (in the Studio Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, I think I saw this book or something very similar in Miyazaki's study). For artists working on figure drawing, it might not be the absolute best resource, since the photos are so small, and not very high def. You can get the general form needed for a gesture drawing, but couldn't try to figure out the planes or the play of light for a more detailed piece.
Still, a fantastic book, and something that any artist could make good use of.
Still, a fantastic book, and something that any artist could make good use of.
October 16, 2023
I purchased this book after I learned it was a direct source of inspiration for Francis Bacon's figurative paintings. It is raw human form and adequately shows photographic content of it's title-- the human figure in motion.
November 29, 2012
What a great resource when I need figures in motion in different positions.
October 12, 2014
eine geniale Bildersammlung. Für alle Künstler wie Freunde von Schwarz Weiß Fotos ein muss
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews