Chronophotography (3)
As the man moved in front of the black
background, he would be in a different location each
time a slot in the rotating shutter exposed the
glass plate, creating a sequence of images. The
faster the disk-shutter rotated, the more images
would layer on the same plate since less time would
elapse between exposures and the subject would cover
less ground. This was a revolutionary method of
photography but totally in keeping with the
principles Marey had established for the graphic
method. Muybridge had introduced him to a new sensor-
the photographic plate (and at the time Marey
started to experiment, the dry plate, a dependable
material, faster than anything used before had
appeared on the market). Light was now the
transmitter and it needed no motive force from the
subject; and the slotted disk shutter translated the
movement without loss or diminution into a visual
language of fluid, overlapping forms.
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As soon as he had realized his new apparatus Marey
returned to his investigations of flight and the
horse's gait.
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A project of this size needed a degree of
accuracy and a precision hitherto unknown in
photography, and a kind of vast experimental
laboratory which did not yet exist in Europe.
Fortunately, by the time he had constructed his
first chronophotographic camera other events had
transpired which together would make the project a
reality. First the establishment of the laboratory -
the Station physiologique (Physiological Station) in
the Bois de Boulogne; and the help of a new and
talented assistant, Georges Demenÿ.
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