[Bird in Flight]

1886

Not on view

One of the nineteenth century’s premier scientific investigators of the phenomenon of movement, Marey designed a process that could make multiple exposures on a single photographic plate in rapid succession. This innovation allowed him to capture the visible traces of an entire motion in regular intervals and to study that action at a level of detail not attainable by earlier photographic technologies. With this remarkable image of a bird in flight, Marey has produced a sequence of the individual moments that comprise a continuous movement, freezing for contemplation and study the fleeting contortions of the animal’s wings, not visible to the naked eye.

Artwork Details

Title: [Bird in Flight]
Artist: Etienne-Jules Marey (French, 1830–1904)
Date: 1886
Medium: Albumen silver print from glass negative
Dimensions: Image: 3.3 x 17.3 cm (1 5/16 x 6 13/16 in.)
Classification: Photographs
Credit Line: Gilman Collection, Purchase, Denise and Andrew Saul Gift, 2005
Object Number: 2005.100.820
Curatorial Department: Photographs

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