space and time. a static instrument. matter confined not only to a 3 dimensional position, but also to a 4th axis through the time it inhabits, only desiring to change if acted upon. without action, there is no reaction. without action, there is no movement. without action, there is no progress.
the fascination with that action and reaction captured many minds in the age of photography. art was dead, there was no reason to learn the ways of the old masters if you could just snap a picture. yet, life carried on, and life desired to be captured not as a static moment but in all 4 dimensions.
what etienne-jules marey's original chronophotograph here is just that. not a photograph of a still life, but a portrait of action, one that would go on to define not just photography or cinematography, but the very nature of art itself.
