Birt Acres
| Birt Acres | |
|---|---|
| Born |
23 July 1854 Richmond, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | 27 December 1918 (aged 64) Whitechapel, London, England, UK |
Birt Acres (23 July 1854 – 27 December 1918) was an American and British photographer and film pioneer. Among his contributions to the early film industry are the first working 35 mm camera in Britain (Wales), and Birtac, the first daylight loading home movie camera and projector. He also directed a number of early silent films.
Born in Richmond, Virginia, to English parents in 1854, he became an orphan at the age of 14, during the American Civil War and was raised by an aunt
Acres invented the first British 35 mm moving picture camera, the first daylight loading home movie camera and projector, Birtac, was the first travelling newsreel reporter in international film history and the first European film maker who had his films shown in the United States in public performances. He contributed much to the introduction and development of cinematography in all its aspects, from the construction of cameras, projectors, film viewers, coating- and slitting machines and the manufacture of highly sensitized 35 mm raw film stock, to mobile newsreel reporting and the public projections of moving pictures.
With his partner Robert W. Paul, he was the first person to build and run a working 35 mm camera in Britain. The pair fell out after Acres patented their design in his own name on 27 May 1895. He made some very early silent films during the Victorian era including in 1895: a film of the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race, The Arrest of a Pickpocket, The Comic Shoeblack, The Boxing Kangaroo and Performing Bears.
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