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Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge (1888)
Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince | 
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland | 1888
The first thing that strikes the spectator watching Le Prince’s Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge is the print’s clarity. This is rather impressive, as Eastman’s paper strips did not provide the advantages of celluloid, available for the first time only a year later. Yet, few early celluloid films can claim a similar photographic quality to the 20 frames showing moving traffic across the Leeds Bridge as seen from Hicks the Ironmongers in an October day in 1888.
This rather simple shot of the Yorkshire town is one of the earliest documentary evidence on the effects of urbanisation. Le Prince was interested in the location because action was never lacking, and thus it gave him enough material to test his new apparatus. However, it is the broader social aspect that makes the film charming, and not its technical history.
In effect, Le Prince opens up the city to a larger audience, providing a unique look at the social conditions in one of the most industrialised towns of the time. The diversity of the environment presents a world which is struggling to find its own look, beyond the blindness brought by successes of technology and the tiredness imposed by the increased workload. This is evident in the speed of the traffic juxtaposed with the relaxed movement of a cigar-smoking gentleman, still un-accustomed to the pace of change. The social diversity of the city is further exemplified by the dress code of the people walking across the bridge: top-hats mingling with workers’ jackets.
Le Prince managed to catch the motion of a symbiosis in creation. His apparatus was not only making history for the new medium, it managed to imprint moments, which are now looked at with nostalgia and awe. Time rushes ahead of our desires so often, but for Le Prince time was always one-step behind.
Cast & Crew
Director: Production Company:- Whitley Partners
Jan 21, 2010 | Share Article 