Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince (French: [lwi l(ə) pʁɛ̃s]; 28 August 1841 – disappeared 16 September 1890; declared dead 16 September 1897) was a French artist and the inventor of an early motion-picture camera, and director of Roundhay Garden Scene. He was possibly the first person to shoot a moving picture sequence using a single lens camera and a strip of (paper) film. He has been credited as the "Father of Cinematography" but, due to his disappearance in 1890, his work did not influence the commercial development of cinema.
In October 1888, Le Prince filmed moving-picture sequences of family members in Leeds, in the 1888 short film Roundhay Garden Scene, and of his son Louis playing the accordion, using his single-lens camera and Eastman's paper negative film. In the next eighteen months, he also made a film of Leeds Bridge. His work appears to precede the inventions of his contemporaries, such as Friese-Greene and Donisthorpe as well as being years ahead of the Lumière brothers and Dickson (who did the moving image work for Thomas Edison). Le Prince disappeared on 16 September 1890. Numerous conspiracy theories emerged about his disappearance, including murder, disappearance in order to start a new life, and suicide. However, no conclusive evidence was found for any of these theories.
