Recently in Eirik Johnson's Digital Photography seminar, he assigned the class a reading from Rebecca Solnit's book River of Shadows. The introductory chapter, entitled The Annihilation of Time and Space, discusses how the technological advancements of the mid 19th century, and specifically the advent of photography changed the way the world was perceived. Solnit goes on to elaborate that it was Eadweard Muybridge's invention of the rapid-firing shutter that truly paved the way for further photographic progress. The impact that being able to freeze time had on the population was profound, enabling the capture and preservation of important people, events and places in the lives of the masses. Memories could now be possessed as tangible objects and revisited whenever desired, rather than as fading images deceived by the mind.
For anyone who is interested in reading this book, you can find more information about it here.
The Horse In Motion
Image © Eadweard Muybridge
