Customer Reviews

The Human Figure In Motion

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This book belongs in every artist's library. First issued at the end of the 19th century, it has become a timeless reference. The author took quick time photographs of humans in a wide variety of common movements. The result is almost like breaking a film into separate cells. You get a 'blow-by-blow' breakdown of activities from simple walking to pouring water into a basin to sports. Both men and women are showcased, nude, with height reference lines behind. These are 'real' people, not the toothpick female and muscle bound male that have become today's figures to emulate. I hear people say, "I can only draw if I have something to look at," so often it makes me sad. It's OKAY to need something to look at. Artists have used models for centuries untold. You are not a lesser artist because you need something to look at. And this is the perfect 'something.' Great for you because these models never fuss or fidget. They never change their position except in the next photo. I lent my copy to someone and it was never returned. Every time I looked at the place on my bookshelf where it used to sit, a little part of me cringed. I am overjoyed to find the book here on Amazon. Get your copy and take it from someone who learned the hard way --don't let it out of your sight!

Muybridge created an extremely comprehensive collection of photos of people engaged in normal activities. For example, he had men shouldering rifles, women walking up stairs, men playing baseball, a little kid crawling, people with disabilities walking, people carrying objects and so on. Not only were the collections in the form of sequences of shots showing the movement, but they were done from several angles at the same time, so you could see the activity (throwing a bucket of water) front, back and sideways.

Some folks I knew at Autodesk scanned these images into their computers to test early versions of their Animator products. Others have made animated gifs out of Muybridge photos for their web pages. Others just sit and look at them because it's so interesting to see the care in these shots (not to mention all those charming Victorian hairdos :-)). My only (and this is only) beef with it is the images are quite small.

It, and the companion book about animals are very useful and enjoyable, indeed, and there isn't a lot of chatter.

Eaweard Muybridges work after his success with Animals in Motion, logically would pursue humans doing tasks that would allow us to view humans in motion.With about 4700 photos in this collection, larger than the animals collection, you will see men, women and children doing just about everything short of coition. All models are nude, running, skipping, jumping, carrying pails of water. This collection by Dover, one of the finest publishers around, is a great reference for all artists, especially animators. As it can show them the muscles and movements and positions of weight, balance, footing, head movements and expressions to gain an edge on their drawings for more accuracy. The Walt Disney Animation Studios reading list highly reccomends this collection for every prospective animator.

Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904) was the most significant contributor to the early study of human and animal locomotion, whose extensive studies were acknowledged by such pioneers of motion pictures as the Lumiere brothers and Thomas Edison. If you have ever seen slow-motion photography of a horse galloping and seen how they have all four hooves off the ground at the same time, then you can understand the fascination in the early days of photography of taking a series of pictures of people running, climbing stairs, or dancing. In fact, it was the horse that got Muybridge involved in this work. In 1872 Muybridge was enlisted to settle bet regarding the position of a trotting horse's legs. But using a camera with the fastest shutter speed available only provided a faint image. Five years later Muybridge used a battery of cameras with mechanically tripped shutters to show the what really happens (in fact, a trotting horse and a galloping horse move differently in having all four hooves off the ground simultaneously).

Consequently, Muybridge invented the zoopraxiscope, a primitive motion-picture machine, which recreated movement by displaying individual photographs in rapid succession. "The Human Figure in Motion" was first published in 1901 and reflects the work Muybridge did at the University of Pennsylvania, where he had been invited to work at the behest of the painting Thomas Eakins, who painted motion subjects, which explains why art students are even more interested in this book than scientists. Includes are over 160 motion studies of the human figure engaged in everything from dressing to hopping on one foot. There are almost 5,000 photographs in this 390 page clothbound edition. Be warned that most of the models, both adults and children, are "undraped" to use the vernacular of the time. In 1887 Muybridges's most important work, "Animal Locomotion," was published in 11 volumes containing over 100,000 photographs taken between 1872 and 1885. Obviously, "The Human Figure in Motion" is a more accessible way to appreciate Muybridge's groundbreaking work.

This is a classic artist's resource that belongs on the shelf of anyone who draws people, at all. This book is filled with thousands of pictures of people doing many, many diverse activities. All of the pictures are of nude people, so as to allow the muscles to be seen clearly. This makes these 19th century photos timeless.

Never has anyone produced such a comprehensive reference of this sort, before, or since. He also produced classic works on the motion of animals, that you have probably seen before, whether you were aware that they were his works or not. Muybridge is a man for the ages. Hopefully, he will one day recieve the recognition that he deserves for his great contributions.

This book is by far the most useful reference books for cartooning anatomy that I have found. also, much cheaper than buying it at a book store.

The pictures in this book date from around 1880, but retain value to this day. In part, they document the simple grace and strength of the human animal going about its daily tasks. They also present dynamic poses, the kind that only a moving model can present. Most collections of models display static poses, the kind that can be held for a camera, and miss much of what's most interesting about the human form. Most famously, these present series of images, the kind of thing that budding animators need to understand. That brings up the one complaint I have about this book: the time intervals between snapshots differ between sequences. Other collections of these photos state the interval for each progression, making it possible for an animation student to work out frame by frame timelines. Lack of timing information cuts way into the usefulness of these sequences of photos.

In addition to everything else I enjoy in these photos, Muybridge's prescience amazes me. He took these photos around 1880, and modern viewers can still learn from them. He also pioneered techniques that have advanced far beyond anything he could have imagined. He often shot his subjects from multiple angles, as we see today in books like Art Models. His techniques also evolved into the rotoscoping that movies like Bakshi's Wizards and others have used so effectively, and into the motion capture techniques that make possible movies like Polar Express and Avatar.

The serious modern student has many more resources available, not least the video camera in her phone or pocket. Still, these classic images continue to charm and instruct, even 130 years after they were taken.

-- wiredweird

I ordered 2 books from Amazon.com and was Amaz-ed at how quickly they arrived and in perfect condition! Have been back shopping for other items and have always been happily satisfied with everything I have ordered. Have full confidence that when I order I can expect nothing less than fast delivery and exact items ordered, no swapping out a 'like-item'. I am back again shopping for an item that is not available in stores locally, nor regionally. So glad that Amazon.com is there to put a me at ease in shopping in a virtual environment. Thank you.

This book is of historical interest and shows the genius of Muybridge. It comes practically without text and is simply Muybridge's photo album with lots and lots of images of naked men and women in action. However, to go beyond that and to take the book as an art reference to anatomy is simply a fallacy. The pictures are so small and the resolution so poor (understandably) that unless you are drawing stick figures, it is simply impossible to use as a reference.

The text is on the lighter side. The volume is full of photos from front to back. They are all black and white with multiple shots on a line and multiple lines on a page. Each photo is a little on the small side. If you get the book to study the motion from frame to frame then you probably want something to help enlarge the page two-frames or more at a time.

In my opinion the strongest point is that there are many different "tasks" sequenced using a variety of models by body-type, thoroughly illustrating "The Human Body in Motion".