Learning various ways of time shifting has led me to think about the traces of actions that we decide to keep or discard, and whether the remnant are of any importance to the current, or final moment of a certain action. The idea of “stopping” time to study or compare different stages of a single motion reminded me of the works of Eadweard Muybridge, an English photographer known for his pioneering work in motion-picture projection. Using technology to capture what the human eye cannot, he proved that a horse lifts all four hooves off the ground at one point in the action of running. In his experiment, a galloping horse was used to trigger the shutters of a bank of cameras.

Horse in Motion, Eadweard Muybridge, ca. 1886
Photography collection, Harry Ransom Center.

My work, although different from those of Muybridge, also captures and compares the sequences of moving from one place to another. To add a stylistic element that not only emphasizes but also contrasts the rather bland action of walking, I converted the 4 plane matrix of ARGB data to AHSL data while displaying only the S plane. The elimination of color was my attempt to bring further attention to the action itself. Additionally, I allowed the time shifting to occur at a speed that is fast and slow enough to compare the different stages of the motion. This was an assignment that led me to further reflect on the value of the moments that are either kept or discarded. 

Visually, my work resembles that of Étienne-Jules Marey than that of Muybridge, as the former consists of multiple exposures overlaying the instants, while the latter has frames separating them.

Chronophotographic study of man pole vaulting, Étienne Jules Marey, 1890
Albumen print, 6.9 x 10.6 cm, Courtesy George Eastman House