Enter the Game

Muybridge solved a riddle of whether a horse takes all four feet off the ground while galloping, by capturing this very moment on his camera.

He also invented the ingenious motion picture projector, the ‘Zoopraxiscope’ which was the first projector showing moving images of photographic live motion. Muybridge used the Zoopraxiscope to illustrate his lectures in the US and Europe.

Muybridge's real name was Edward James Muggeridge, but he later changed his last name to Muybridge. Changing his first name, from Edward to Eadweard, may have been influenced by the name of Anglo-Saxon Kings on the Coronation Stone in Kingston.

As a young man, Muybridge wanted adventure and was keen to see the world. He set off for the United States in 1850 and initially worked as a bookseller in New York.

After sustaining a head injury from a serious stagecoach accident in 1860, Muybridge returned to England where he gradually recovered. During this time in England, Muybridge invented a washing machine and plate-printing apparatus, as well as acquiring his photographic skills.

After over 40 years of a remarkable career abroad, Muybridge returned to his hometown Kingston in 1894 where he spent his last years until his death in 1904. Muybridge donated his own collection to Kingston Museum.

Portrait of Leland Stanford (c. 1877), Governor of California and President of the Central Pacific Railroad who financed Muybridge's motion studies in the 1870s

Electo-exposures (1878-79)

Electromagnetic timer mechanism for camera shutters (1878-80)

Technical drawing of the electromagnetic timer mechanism for camera shutters (1878-80)

Deer running (1878-79)

Horse 'Gypsy' cantering and man running behind (1878-79)

Ox running (1878-79)

Woman dancing (1884-86)

Starting for a run (1884-86)

Nude man (Muybridge) descending a step (1884-86)

Two men boxing (1884-86)

Back somersault (1884-86).
Shorts painted on the image by Muybridge

Jumping over boy's back (1884-86)

Jumping down (1884-86)

Fencing (1884-86)

'Daisy' trotting, saddled (1844-46)

'Pandora' jumping a hurdle (1884-86)

Movement of the hand, clasping hands (1884-86)

'Ruth' bucking and kicking (1884-86)

'Hornet' jumping over three horses (1884-86)

Lion walking (1884-86)

Cockatoo flying (1884-86)

Bactrian camel galloping (1884-86)

'Ike' and 'Maggie' racing (1884-86)

Zoopraxiscope disc (c. 1880s)
Running horses and one ring of horse and rider moving in opposite direction

Muybridge later tried to make the images on his Zoopraxiscope discs more realistic by introducing colours to them.

Detail of Zoopraxiscope disc (c. 1880s)
Woman dancing