Gallery: These Incredible Animated GIFs Are More Than 150 Years Old
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In the 19th century, artists relied on optical tools, things like zoetropes, phenakistoscopes, thaumatropes and other gadgets with very strange names, to bring their illustrations to life. *Image: Richard Balzer/Brian Duffy*
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Richard Balzer and Brian Duffy have been digitizing Balzer's collection of phenakistoscope and zoetrope illustrations and turning them into GIFs. *Image: Richard Balzer/Brian Duffy*
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The phenakistoscope, a device that was invented by Belgian physicist Joseph Plateau, was first created for scientific studies. *Image: Richard Balzer/Brian Duffy*
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The device uses a round disc with 16 frames. Users would spin the disc while looking in the mirror and the slits would act as a shutter, essentially turning the static illustrations into an animation. *Image: Richard Balzer/Brian Duffy*
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Duffy digitized the zoetrope's 2-3 feet-long reel of illustrations into a single, looping animation. *Image: Richard Balzer/Brian Duffy*
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A zoetrope. *Image: Richard Balzer*
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Zoetrope illustrations. *Image: Richard Balzer*
