Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level F , Case X, Shelf 326, Box H

Bird in flight

Photograph
1887 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Object Type
This sequence of photographs is one plate out of 781 that form Eadweard Muybridge's series Animal Locomotion, published by the University of Pennsylvania, USA, in 1887.


Ownership & Use
The South Kensington Museum (later the V&A) subscribed to Animal Locomotion at the time it was produced. Subscribers guaranteed an initial number of sales of an expensive work, thus ensuring that a publication was viable before production began. They included scientists and artists, as well as museums.


People
Eadweard Muybridge was the name adopted by the photographer Edward James Muggeridge (1830-1904). He was of British origin but lived and worked mostly in California, USA. He was already well known for his landscape views of the American West before making his famous series Animal Locomotion. He is also remembered today for his eventful personal life: in 1874 he shot dead the lover of his wife, was arrested, charged, imprisoned, brought to trial and finally acquitted.


Materials & Making
Exposures were made in rapid succession by means of threads attached to cameras placed about half a meter apart. The camera shutter was activated when the horse broke the thread while going past.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleBird in flight (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Collotype
Brief description
19thC; Muybridge E, photograph of a bird in flight, from Animal Locomotion
Physical description
Black and white photograph of a bird in flight.
Dimensions
  • Sheet size height: 390mm
  • Sheet size width: 494mm
Credit line
Bought by subscription
Object history
Taken in Pennsylvania, U.S.A, by Eadweard Muybridge (born in Kingston-on-Thames, Surrey,1830, died there, 1904)
Summary
Object Type
This sequence of photographs is one plate out of 781 that form Eadweard Muybridge's series Animal Locomotion, published by the University of Pennsylvania, USA, in 1887.


Ownership & Use
The South Kensington Museum (later the V&A) subscribed to Animal Locomotion at the time it was produced. Subscribers guaranteed an initial number of sales of an expensive work, thus ensuring that a publication was viable before production began. They included scientists and artists, as well as museums.


People
Eadweard Muybridge was the name adopted by the photographer Edward James Muggeridge (1830-1904). He was of British origin but lived and worked mostly in California, USA. He was already well known for his landscape views of the American West before making his famous series Animal Locomotion. He is also remembered today for his eventful personal life: in 1874 he shot dead the lover of his wife, was arrested, charged, imprisoned, brought to trial and finally acquitted.


Materials & Making
Exposures were made in rapid succession by means of threads attached to cameras placed about half a meter apart. The camera shutter was activated when the horse broke the thread while going past.
Collection
Accession number
PH.1273-1889

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Record createdOctober 17, 2008
Record URL
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