Moments Captured

Moments Captured

by Robert Seidman

An interesting story by Robert Seidman in Moments Captured, which uses the real-life photographer, Edward Muybridge, and some stories from his life in conjunction with some divergent storylines.  It is a unique approach to utilize one of the “father figures” of photography to create a story.  Muybridge had two patents and is best known for his work in capturing animals in still and moving pictures.  In the novel, Muybridge, who hails from the UK, moves to the US in the 1860s at the time of the gold rush and migration of the east coast residents to the great west.  Muybridge assists in capturing a ‘gunslinging’ robber by taking a still picture of him, well before cameras were known by most people.  The picture helps capture and eventually is used to find the man guilty of the crime, for which he is later executed.  During the incident, Muybridge meets Holly Hughes, and they immediately become lovers.  The author goes into great detail describing the sexual exploits of the couple, and we learn that Hughes is a self-made woman who believes in “free-love”, being comfortable in numerous relationships at once (though her feelings for Edward make her think otherwise).  Hughes is a renowned French dancer and feminist and she pushes her agenda to the aristocracy of the San Francisco Bay area.  Muybridge gets hired by Leland Stanford (the man after which Stanford University is named) to help capture the movement of his horses on film.  Stanford later hires him to take stills of the building of the Pacific rim railroad tracks.  Hughes’ old lover, Jacques Fauconier, arrives during her opening night show, which she ends by spouting why “corsets are damaging to women” while the rich, white audience is aghast.  Fauconier tries to seduce Hughes, but she reneges his advances because of her attachment to Muybridge.  Muybridge becomes so enthralled with getting a large salary from Stanford, coupled with his desire to enhance his standing as a great photographer, that he leaves Hughes for a few months and forgets to contact her.  While he is away, Fauconier is finally able to convince Holly to spend an evening together.  It is an “over the top” sexual escapade that ends with him returning to her home.  That same evening, Muybridge returns after abruptly leaving the winter mountain site of the Pacific railroad buildout.  He finds Fauconier and Holly nude, asleep in each other’s arms.  He becomes so angry that he kills Fauconier with a gun that was given to him by a friend to escape from the mountain.  A trial ensues and Muybridge is found not guilty of manslaughter because of temporary insanity.  Holly can’t forgive him for killing Fauconier and leaves town for good.  Muybridge’s life is never complete now that he has lost Holly.  Will they ever get back together?  How will Muybridge ever move forward with his life having lost his work for Stanford?  What further contributions will he make to the field of photography?  It’s a really interesting story with some further twists related to the feminist movement, photography, and the story of the man who helped create Stanford University.  This was one of those books I couldn’t put down.  Interesting plot line with lots of twists, and a surprising plot from the very first part of the book comes into play at the end.  Again, like the device of using real-life people but changing many aspects of their life.