movingpictures

Glimpses of People and Places in Monrovia, Captured Through Cinemagraphs

Monrovia is the capital of Liberia, the West African country that was founded by the United States and settled in the 1800s by mostly freed slaves (hence its name, which means "land of freedom").

When French photographer Francois Beaurain visited the city in early 2014, he spent five months wandering the streets and documenting this land that he previously knew nothing about. He then created a series of cinemagraphs -- or "moving photos" -- that offer a glimpse into what Monrovia is like.

The World’s First Color Moving Pictures Discovered, Dating Back to 1902

The world's first color moving pictures have been discovered, dating back to 1902. The film sat forgotten in an old metal tin for 110 years before being found recently by Michael Harvey, the Curator of Cinematography at the National Media Museum in England. The pictures were part of a test reel of early color experiments by an Edwardian inventor named Edward Raymond Turner, and show Turners children, soldiers marching, domesticated birds, and even a girl on a swing set.

Still Photos with a Dash of Movement

Photographer Jamie Beck has a beautiful series of images that she calls "cinemagraphs". They're animated GIFs in which only a small piece each photograph is animated, making them a neat fusion of still and moving images. It's amazing how much a tiny bit of movement in a still photo can do. They're almost like the moving pictures you see in Harry Potter!