In the
19th century, mechanical inventions initiated an increasingly faster pace of
life in the modern world. Curiosity about the mechanics of human and animal
locomotion grew apace, which was satisfied by documentation with improved
photographic processes and specially designed cameras.

Étienne-Jules
Marey began studying the new science of physiology about 1859. He first
employed graphic and electronic methods of tracing movement to better
understand how the body works and how specific actions might be carried out
more efficiently and effectively. After reading about Marey’s pioneering motion
studies, Leland Stanford commissioned Eadweard Muybridge to photograph a
racehorse in order to freeze its motion in mid-gallop, which he achieved in
1876. Marey was ecstatic when he saw Muybridge’s photographs, and the two men
spurred each other to further develop their systems of documentation.

Marey
created a chronophotographic gun (from chronos,
meaning time), which resembled a tommy gun and exposed a single plate in a
revolving drum at a rate of 12 consecutive frames per second.  He photographed birds in flight, men
pole-vaulting, and horses galloping, capturing their action at a level of
detail not previously attainable by the human eye or other means.