Guy Delisle's graphic novel explores Eadweard Muybridge's life and experiments
A new graphic novel titled 'Per una frazione di secondo' (Rizzoli Lizard) by Canadian cartoonist Guy Delisle chronicles the extraordinary life of photography pioneer Eadweard Muybridge. The book focuses on Muybridge's unconventional biography, including his departure from England in 1855 to seek fortune in the United States, a severe head injury in 1860 during a stagecoach journey from New York to San Francisco that altered his personality, and his early experiments in Yosemite National Park, Alaska (1876 expedition), and the iconic 1877 galloping horse sequence. Delisle, known for 'Cronache birmane' (2007) and the Fauve d'or-winning 'Cronache di Gerusalemme' (2012), intersperses photographic reproductions of Muybridge's works. The narrative highlights Muybridge's contributions to photography and cinema, as framed by Walter Benjamin's concept of the age of mechanical reproduction.
Key facts
- Guy Delisle authored the graphic novel 'Per una frazione di secondo'
- Published by Rizzoli Lizard
- Muybridge left England for the US in 1855
- Suffered a head injury in 1860 on a stagecoach from New York to San Francisco
- Coma lasted 9 days; lost smell, hearing, and had double vision
- Early photographs taken in Yosemite National Park
- 1876 expedition to Alaska
- 1877 sequence of a horse galloping
- Delisle won Fauve d'or at Angoulême in 2012 for 'Cronache di Gerusalemme'
- Book includes reproductions of Muybridge's photographs
Entities
Artists
- Eadweard Muybridge
- Guy Delisle
- Walter Benjamin
Institutions
- Rizzoli Lizard
- Festival international de la bande dessinée d'Angoulême
Locations
- England
- United States
- New York
- San Francisco
- Yosemite National Park
- Alaska