"Yosemite Hotel"

1861–1866

Perhaps taking up photography in England

Muybridge may have taken up photography sometime between 1861 and 1866: he possibly learned the wet-plate collodion process in England and was possibly influenced by photographers such as Julia Margaret Cameron, Lewis Carroll and Roger Fenton; it remains unclear how much he had learned before the accident and how much after his return to the United States.

13 February 1867

Returns to San Francisco a changed man

Friends later said he had changed from a smart and pleasant businessman into an eccentric artist: he was more careless about his appearance, easily agitated, and cared more for beauty than for money; Silas Selleck could hardly recognize him.

June – November 1867

Yosemite: photographing at the edge of the abyss

From June to November 1867 Muybridge photographed Yosemite Valley, taking enormous safety risks with a heavy view camera and stacks of glass negatives; a stereograph published in 1872 shows him sitting on a projecting rock above 2,000 feet (610 m) of empty space.

1867–1873

“Helios’ Flying Studio” and 400 stereographs

Working as “Helios”, he converted a lightweight two-wheel carriage into a portable darkroom and dubbed it “Helios’ Flying Studio”; Helios produced over 400 different stereograph cards, mostly views of San Francisco and its surroundings, bought by tourists, proud citizens and collectors.

1868

An exhibition of large Yosemite photographs and a subscription series

In 1868 Muybridge exhibited large photographs of Yosemite Valley and began selling popular stereographs; in February he announced a subscription series of 20 retouched pictures, and twenty original photographs (possibly the same) illustrated John S. Hittel’s guide book “Yosemite: Its Wonders and Its Beauties”.

1868

Alaska: a government commission

In 1868 the United States government commissioned Muybridge to travel to the newly acquired territory of Alaska to photograph the Tlingit people, occasional Russian inhabitants and dramatic landscapes.