"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

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.

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”.