Chronophotograph of Pigeon in Flight

Silver gelatin print chronophotograph showing the successive phases of movement of a pigeon in flight, originally photographed by E J Marey from a fixed-plate negative about 1885. The enlargement was made by M P Nadar on Marey's instructions. Handwritten in ink beneath the print 'Photographie de Mr le Docteur Marey - Agrandisement de M P Nadar'.

A professor of physiology at the College de France in Paris, Marey originated a 'graphic method' of recording human and animal movement for which he developed various electrical and mechanical devices. Once his centre, the Station Physiologique opened in 1882, he turned to chronophotography and constructed the first of several 'photographic guns' or fixed plate cameras to advance his research. During his career, Marey amassed thousand of glass plates and nearly 800 short chronophotographic films, many of which were reproduced in his work 'Le Mouvement' in 1894.