WOMAN IN MOTION By Rick Doble
ABOUT THE AMERICAN
PHOTOGRAPHER MUYBRIDGE
Eadweard Muybridge was a pivotal figure in
photography, painting, and the creation of
motion pictures. His landmark study in 1887
entitled "Human and Animal Locomotion" is still
the definitive study of its kind.
Specifically he developed a method for
taking high speed pictures in sequence. Often
using three cameras he photographed a man
running or a woman dancing or a horse running
from three different angles. The subject was
usually photographed next to a series of
reference lines. His photography revealed for
the first time things that could not be seen by
the human eye. He proved, for example, that
when a horse gallops, all four legs will leave
the ground at some point. His studies also
completely altered the way people perceived the
human body in movement.
These photographs were taken before motion
pictures were invented. It was discovered that
Muybridge's images could be put in sequence and
then rotated to create a moving picture. This
lead to the creation of the cinema.
His photographs also profoundly affected
modern painting. The Futurist movement which
strove to depict a figure in time and in motion
came directly from his studies of motion. In
addition the important early 20th century
painter Marcel Duchamp and the modern painter
Francis Bacon credited Muybridge with affecting
their work.
HOW TO VIEW THESE IMAGES
While your Internet browser will display
these pictures adequately, these images are
best viewed with a separate graphics viewer
program. Use your graphics viewer to display
any of these pictures that you saved to a file.
Display the image full screen against a black
background with no other menu lines or other
stuff to interfere, just the picture on black.
I also recommend that you look at my pictures
from a distance such as three to five feet away
as well as close up. The effect is quite
different.
How to save pictures and how to view them with a graphics viewer.
#1. Save the picture you see with your
Internet browser by clicking with the right
mouse button on the image (this works for
Netscape and Microsoft Explorer, anyway). A
dialogue box will pop up asking you to choose a
directory where the picture should be saved.
Once you have chosen a directory, then just
click "save" and it will be saved under the
name that it already has, or you can save it
under a name that you choose.
#2. Start your graphics viewing program.
Go to the directory where the picture you just
saved is located. Double click on the file
name, and it should now display by itself. To
see the image full screen, you may need to use
the program's special "full screen command" to
see the entire picture with a black background
and no menu lines or other stuff to interfere.
To leave the full screen view and get back to
the graphics viewer program you usually hit the
escape key or the enter key.
How to download a FREE graphics viewer if you don't have one.
If you do not own a graphics viewer, then
I highly recommend the ACDsee viewer. This is
available as shareware (free to try for 30
days). You will have to put up with a nag box
once in a while (even the first month you try
it out), but the program is superb, easy to use,
and if you do decide to buy, very reasonable.
(No, I do not have a financial interest in the
company, I just like their product.)
To get a copy of ACDsee right now, click
on the link below. It will take you to the site
where you can choose to download their
software.
ABOUT REACTIONS TO THIS WORK
I do not usually comment on people's
reactions to my work, but with the "Woman in
Motion" series I have been surprised by the
range and intensity of viewer's reactions.
A nationally known potter told me she
dreamt about my pictures the night after she
saw them, as did a nationally known
glassblower. A local painter said she could
clearly visualize every image of mine from this
series that she had ever seen. On the other
hand, the director of a museum at a southern
college disliked them intensely.
Generally people with painting, craft,
fine art and art history backgrounds have liked
them. However, people with computer, or
photography, or academic backgrounds have
disliked them. I rarely get a neutral response.
I've been in this business long enough to
know that you create images for those who like
your work and not for those who don't. I also
know that when I get strong positive and
negative reactions, I must be doing something
right.
These images are available for exhibit.
Color prints have been matted, framed and are ready for hanging.
Galleries and art schools can display these images on a computer monitor
as a continuous "slide show."
Please send me an e-mail message for full details.
Please click on the e-mail address below for any comments or questions.
Send an e-mail message
© Copyright 1997 by Richard deGaris Doble
All rights reserved