Water Fall in the Catskills (James H. White, 1897)
The Library of Congress now has a YouTube page where they are uploading (among other things) some of the early Thomas Edison kinetoscope films. These are the earliest known American motion pictures.
To me, these are fascinating artifacts of a time when people were just learning how to see for the first time through a new medium, a medium that was captivating for its movement and realism. But some of these kinetoscopes are also moving documentary captures in themselves. Simple, unobtrusive, committed to basic compositional form and dynamic movement. It wasn’t certain whether motion pictures were going to develop beyond a penny arcade novelty, but Edison, ever the capitalist, made sure he had what he needed to ride the wave while it lasted.
