Muybridge, Eadweard, << MY brihj, EHD wurd >> (1830-1904), was an English-born photographer and inventor who helped lay the groundwork for motion pictures. In the 1870’s, Muybridge began a series of experiments in photography that produced the first successful photos of motion. He photographed a galloping race horse at intervals of 1/25 second. In 1879, Muybridge invented a device called a zoopraxiscope that projected images of running animals on a screen so that the animals seemed to be moving.
In 1884 and 1885, Muybridge took more than 100,000 motion photos of men, women, children, and animals. He built his own exposition building to show his photos at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago, which he called the Zoopraxographical Hall.
Muybridge was born on April 9, 1830, in Kingston-on-Thames, England. His real name was Edward James Muggeridge. He changed the spelling to Eadweard Muybridge, which he felt was closer to its original Anglo-Saxon form. Muybridge moved to California in 1852 and finally returned to England in 1900, where he died on May 8, 1904.
