Talk by Jonathan Shaw
Photographing Time
Saturday 3rd April, 2pm, Estorick Collection, London

Jonathan has been invited to talk as part of On the Move exhibition curated by Jonathan Miller at the Estorick Collection. All are welcome, the more the merrier!

Jonathan will be talking about his ideas, work and encounters with the masters of Time and Movement within photography with particular reference to the work of Eadweard Muybridge and Harold Edgerton.

Animated sequence of a buffalo (American bison) galloping. Photos taken by Eadweard Muybridge, first published in 1887 at Philadelphia (Animal Locomotion). Animation by Waugsberg, 2006-7-16.	Bullet through banana, 1964, photograph by Dr. Harold Edgerton

Miller shows us more than just photographs and paintings in this show. This is one of the reasons why it is so appealing. He keeps on nudging us, encouraging us to think more widely, to think about how what Muybridge and others did had an impact on art, photography, books, film, the theatre. Didn’t Busby Berkeley’s gorgeous choreography, all that brilliant sequencing of movement, owe a debt to what Muybridge discovered? And didn’t Berkeley’s choreography also remind us of the way in which Cubism broke up the human figure? Yes, and yes again. Undoubtedly.

To read the full review please click here.

Jonathan Shaw’s Triple Jump, Harold Edgerton’s Densmore Shute Bends the Shaft & Portrait of Jonathan Miller

“On the Move: Visualising Action,” at the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art in north London until April 18, for which Sir Jonathan has assembled a wide range of material examining the perception and depiction of movement.

The show includes not only Muybridge’s fragile lantern slides, but the devices which first reproduced visual movement in the 19th century, such as the phenakistoscope, zoetrope and praxinoscope. But it also extends to animated studies of highly technical research into how we perceive movement, Futurist paintings, modern panoramic digital photography and comic strips.”

Further reviews can be seen at;

On the Move is an engaging, thought provoking show… – Evening Standard

…an enthralling show… - The Guardian/Observer

SMIRNOFF Hot Pick! – Time Out London

(the show) raises all kinds of questions, not only about how we perceive movement in still images, but also what art is – The Independent

On the Move: Visualising Action at the Estorick Collection, London. 13th January – 18th April 2010.

17th January, The Sunday Independent, The Critics, Visual Art/Film by Charles Darwent.

“And other rooms bring Miller’s story up to date by focussing on the modern interest in depicting motion motionlessly, from Jonathan Shaw’s shot of a triple-jumper mid-jump to the sequentially flailing fists of Billy Whizz.

This is fascinating stuff, although more needs to be made of its central cognitive drama. As Miller points out, the perception psychologist, Sigmund Exner, found that the eye actually registers the gaps between frames in the apparently seamless story of, say, Steamboat Willie. It is the brain that fills in the narrative, preferring its stories complete. This knowledge raises all kinds of questions about how and what we see, but also about what art is and what it is for.”

Click here to read the full story on the Independent’s website.

What a great opening night, I was introduced to the man himself Dr. Jonathan Miller and all the team at the Estorick. It was an unbelievable turnout (you could barely see the show!) with a really illuminating introduction by Jonathan.

It was truly amazing to see my work set amongst those who have influenced and expanded on our understanding and perceptions of photography, time and motion.

You can also listen to his interview with Mark Lawson on Radio 4′s Front Row from 8th January (the interview starts about 1/3 of the way through the podcast).

If you are in North London tomorrow night then please come along to the Preview of Jonathan Miller’s ‘On the Move, Visualising Action’ exhibition at the Estorick Collection. This features some of my earlier sports work. Tuesday 12th January 2010, 6 until 8.30pm.

Estorick Collection, 39a Canonbury Square, London, N1 2AN

(Image: Harold Edgerton, Foil Salute (detail), 1938 courtesy Palm Press, Inc.)

On the Move – Visualising Action
Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art, London
13 January – 18 April 2010

Jonathan has been invited to give his personal response to the On the Move exhibition at Estorick Collection. Jonathan‘s talk has been scheduled for Saturday 3rd April. On the Move has been curated by Dr Jonathan Miller, this exhibition will explore the representation and perception of movement in arts and science.

It will take the Estorick’s own Futurist masterpieces as its starting point but its scope will also include photography, especially the work of Eadweard Muybridge and Etienne-Jules Marey, and recent scientific research into the analysis of movement.