1882 Étienne -Jules Marey – Birds
Marey’s chronophotography captured movement's essence, revolutionizing photography and setting the foundation for cinematography, influencing both artistic expression and scientific analysis.
Étienne-Jules Marey’s chronophotography marked a transformative moment in the history of photography by introducing the ability to capture multiple phases of movement within a single exposure. This breakthrough diverged sharply from the era’s standard single-shot photography, enabling the visualization of motion and setting the stage for modern cinematography.
Marey's technique uniquely depicted the fluid dynamics of birds in flight, offering unprecedented insights into biomechanics and aerodynamic studies. With his chronophotographic gun, Marey captured up to twelve frames per second on a single glass plate using a rotating disk shutter—a pivotal innovation in high-speed photography. This method allowed for the detailed analysis of complex movements, influencing future technological advances in both film and digital imaging.
His work bridged art and science, inspiring artists to explore motion in new ways and providing scientists with valuable data. His contributions significantly altered the landscape of both disciplines, underlining photography’s potential as a multifaceted tool for artistic expression and scientific exploration.
Credit: Étienne-Jules Marey, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Author: Étienne-Jules Marey
Title: Unknown
Date: circa 1882
Archive: Unknown
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Original file: 1583 x 785 pixels, file size: 382 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg
Available information: A photo of flying pelican taken by Étienne-Jules Marey
Related First Photographs
Exploring the Influence of Proving an Assumption across Zero Baseline
Photography has often been used to settle questions that could not be resolved by assumption alone. Its impact comes from our inherent need to see in order to believe—turning speculation into something tangible and undeniable. These proofs revealed unseen mechanics of motion, verified natural patterns, and confirmed theoretical predictions. Advances in optics, timing, and image clarity increased the reliability of such evidence, ensuring that outcomes were no longer left to interpretation.
1878 MUYBRIDGE – THE HORSE IN MOTION
Sequential photographs proved that all four of a horse’s hooves leave the ground during a gallop, overturning a long-held visual assumption.
1882 WILLIAM JENNINGS – LIGHTNING
Photographs revealed that lightning follows jagged, branching paths rather than straight lines, visually disproving a centuries-old belief.
1882 ÉTIENNE-JULES MAREY – BIRDS
Chronophotographs demonstrated that birds’ wings trace complex elliptical paths in flight, offering unprecedented insight into biomechanics.
1888 ISAAC ROBERTS – NEBULA IN THE PLEIADES
Captured faint nebulosity around the Pleiades, confirming that interstellar dust reflects starlight as long suggested by theory.
1890 WILSON A. BENTLEY – PHOTOMICROGRAPH OF STELLAR SNOWFLAKE NO. 10
Photomicrograph confirmed that each snowflake has a unique crystalline structure, offering visual proof for theories of atmospheric formation.
1900 A.M. WORTHINGTON - SPLASH
Spark photographs revealed that a liquid impact forms a crown and rising column, proving that fluid motion follows consistent physical patterns.
Related First Photographs
Exploring the Influence of Motion Study across Zero Baseline
Motion study in photography is the disciplined observation of movement through sequential or composite imaging. From early chronophotography to today’s high-frame-rate and sensor-based capture, each development has sought to dissect motion into measurable units while preserving the continuity of form. Refinements in optical precision, frame timing, and layered exposures have made it possible to analyse gesture, biomechanics, dynamic systems, and even subatomic traces with increasing accuracy. Whether for science, industry, or art, motion study transforms fluid activity into a visual framework, revealing structures of movement otherwise hidden to the human eye.
1878 MUYBRIDGE – THE HORSE IN MOTION
Muybridge used sequential photography to dissect the gallop into still frames, revealing movement too fast for the eye and transforming how motion could be studied and understood.
1882 ÉTIENNE-JULES MAREY – BIRDS
Using chronophotography, Marey broke down continuous flight into discrete, analyzable frames—laying the foundation for modern studies of motion and biomechanics.
1886 ÉTIENNE-JULES MAREY – SHAKING A FLEXIBLE ROD
Layered multiple phases of movement into a single frame to visualise wave motion.
1887 MUYBRIDGE – ANIMAL LOCOMOTION. PLATE 762
Sequential frames capturing the phases of a bird in flight, offering one of the earliest detailed visual studies of avian motion (bird motion).
1889 ÉTIENNE-JULES MAREY AND GEORGE DEMENY - Pathological Walk from the Front
Among the earliest images to visualise human movement as a sequence, this photograph marked a turning point in understanding motion through time.
1900 A.M. WORTHINGTON - SPLASH
Used spark photography to reveal the fluid structures formed in the instant of liquid impact.
1900 ÉTIENNE-JULES MAREY – AIR MOVEMENT IN A COLLISION WITH OBJECTS OF DIFFERENT SHAPES
Visualised airflow patterns as they moved around and responded to objects of varying shapes.
1973 BUBBLE CHAMBER-CERN-EX-23296
Captured the spiralling paths of subatomic particles through liquid, revealing motion patterns that defined their charge, momentum, and interactions.
2015 LIGHT AS WAVE AND PARTICLE
Captured light behaving simultaneously as both wave and particle, providing direct visual evidence of quantum duality.
2023 CHELSI ALISE COCKING AND JIMMY DAY – ILLUMINATE
Rendered human motion as luminous trails in real time, transforming movement into a continuous visual record of gesture and form.