An early prominent example of animation comes from 1800’s English photographer Eadweard Muybridge.
The Horse in Motion – Eadweard Muybridge
The Horse in Motion – Eadweard Muybridge Gif animation
Muybridge was best known for instigating photographic works portraying motion.
These works consisted mainly of human and animal movement, which Muybridge managed to capture using multiple cameras.
His studies of human movement included the movement of dance, and the choreography and movement of fencing.
This gif animation show when these photographs, when put in order, gives the illusion of movement.
Phenakistoscope of a couple dancing – Eadweard Muybridge
Though Muybridge was not the first to develop animation techniques, his work influenced future artists such as Marcel Duchamp (inspired Nude Descending a Staircase), Francis Bacon (who painted from Muybridge’s photographs), and even Thomas Edison (who developed and owned patents for motion picture cameras).
The Animation Journal 