In 1881, Le Prince was newly arrived in New York and preoccupied with establishing a new life and a new business there. Also in 1881, some of the world's greatest scientists were already busy working on the capture of motion pictures. By looking at the work of Eadweard Muybridge, Etienne Jules Marey and Pierre Jules Cesar Janssen, we can see just how much progress had been made in the field of chronophotography and how determined Le Prince would have to be to be able to catch and compete with them.

Support the show

We take a walk up Broadway to explore the town that was now home to John Whitley and Louis Le Prince. What can we learn from looking at Union Square, where John's Lincrusta Walton showroom was situated? How were the two voyagers going to be shaped by the sights and sounds of Broadway?

Support the show

A decade and a half after first meeting, John Robinson Whitley and Louis Le Prince continue their adventures together when they travel across the Atlantic Ocean to America. John Whitley has a new business venture and takes his brother-in-law, Le Prince along with him. But why would Le Prince leave Leeds? And why trust the reckless and excitable Whitley?

Support the show

We will look at the idea that Louis Le Prince may have known or  been friends with one of Leeds' most celebrated artists, John Atkinson Grimshaw, whose paintings of Whitby may have inspired Bram Stoker's novel 'Dracula'. We will see how Grimshaw - and other artists - used photography to help them with their art, and will see how Irfan Shah almost got his hands on Grimshaw's photographic cloud studies. What part does photography play in art? And how can we trace an outline of our subject, Le Prince, through speculative research?

Support the show

We continue to move through the 1870's, looking at Le Prince's career as an artist and teacher, and his continued connection with the struggling Whitley foundry. We also look at how Le Prince came to have a piece of work placed underneath the famous Cleopatra's Needle in London.

Support the show

From a brief look at the influence of the Third Estate on society, the episode proceeds to a brief history of film based on the epic yet unpublished book '25,000 Years to Trap a Shadow' written by our 'esteemed adversary and fellow pilgrim' Will Day.

Support the show

1876. Le Prince becomes a Freemason and moves into 33 Park Square, a house that will be filled with happy memories for him and also, where he will begin experiments in photography that will lead towards his work in motion pictures.

The year 1876 also sees a patent for a motion picture camera from another inventor with Leeds connections - a patent which leaves us with more questions than answers...

Support the show

The contrasting fortunes of the Le Princes and John Whitley are looked at. Louis, with a growing family and a successful art school, has put down roots in the town of Leeds. John Whitley, on the other hand, experiences business failures that will see him have to 'disappear' from the town.

And an odd inconsistency in the story of Le Prince is revealed. Why has Le Prince's biographer put 1875 down as the year in which he discovered the work of Edweard Muybridge. 

1875, a year of contrasting fortunes and of clues.

Support the show

What is a motion picture camera? And how could the film pioneers know what film might mean to the world?

Le Prince, back in Leeds, but weakened by his time in Paris during the Siege, is persuaded to withdraw from Whitley Partners and start an art school with Lizzie. The school is a great success and work from it is exhibited in many conversaziones for societies such as the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society. 

The episode will look at Le Prince's life  during the 1870's and explore how it might have come to shape his later ideas on what film might mean to society.

The episode will suggest that Le Prince, the film maker, would be one of the last great Victorian collectors.

Support the show

This episode starts with a look at a French newspaper report which may offer clues to help us better understand the identity of the German-accented stranger mentioned in an earlier article. In exploring this point, we will discuss the idea of 'confirmation bias'.

We will then move from France to Leeds and look at the turbulent business years of Whitley Partners as well as learning of some of Le Prince's own financial commitments. We will see a story of apparent success but also of disputes and financial instability.

Support the show