Followers

Friday, July 2, 2021

Sheer joy . . . and immortality


Yeah, you've all seen this one before, but I never get tired of it.  This young man, a student at the University of Pennsylvania, posed for a groundbreaking set of motion studies by Eadweard Muybridge in 1884.  Somehow, I doubt that he stopped to think that we would be marveling at him 137 years later.  His name was Robert Edward Glendenning, and on that day, he became immortal.

 

8 comments:

  1. The Glendennings were Philadelphia Main Line aristocracy, in a class with the Wanamakers and Drexels. If you google REG's full name, you'll find a page from the UofP about his illustrious life, although he only attended for his freshman year. His daughter Ellen was a compulsive photographer, and hundreds of her photos documenting decades of life among the rich in Philly and Palm Beach are in the archives of the New York Social Diary website. Lavish debutante balls, even more lavish weddings with twenty bridesmaids, travel in private railway cars, shopping sprees in Europe, and relentless socializing with the same people year after year after year. Also multiple divorces and heavy drinking. My favorite photos showed mountains of champagne bottles emptied at weddings during WW2, while the rest of the country was dealing with strict rationing of many of life's basic essentials. No wonder the French Revolution happened.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow, that's interesting, thank you! I love it when someone fills in the information profile.

      Delete
  2. I could watch him for hours. As you say sheer joy. This handsome, muscular, student and sportsman happily stripped naked to demonstrate his baseball skills as part of a scientific experiment. Yes, because of that day 137 years ago..he is now immortal.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Like you, I never get tired of watching this one.

      Delete
    2. I'm currently working with a photographer/model and an artist who creates Muybridge inspired paintings. Early stages, but I thinking we'd do a multimedia work. Running from movement reference photographs and video through to abstract paintings.

      Delete
    3. That sounds exceptionally interesting, David. Please let me know how it goes.

      Delete
  3. It's kind of heartbreaking, because of course he's each one of us, briefly. Thanks for pointing this out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like your point of view, and you're quite welcome.

      Delete