River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West

Description

In 1872, Eadward Muybridge – a British photographer, who had landed in California during the Gold Rush – captured images of high-speed movement. These photographs would go on to lay the foundations for motion pictures, changing the west coast of America, and the world, forever. River of Shadows is both a bold and original biography of a true pioneer – his trailblazing work, and his complicated life – and a portrait of America on the threshold of modernity. Drawing lines from Muybridge’s invention to Hollywood and Silicon Valley, Rebecca Solnit explores how this remarkable breakthrough has shaped the world today.