The performances predated Auguste and Louis Lumière's first paid public screening of the cinematographe on 26 December 1895, often seen as the birth of cinema.

Reynaud was taught Latin, Greek, physics, chemistry, mechanics, and natural sciences by his uncle, a doctor in the area.

He created the praxinoscope out of a cookie box after reading a series of 1876 articles in La Nature about optical illusion devices.

The first showing included screenings of Un bon bock, Le Clown et ses chiens, and Pauvre Pierrot.

He created the photo-scénographe, a version of the théâtre optique that could take photographs, in 1895, but it was overshadowed by the cinematograph of Auguste and Louis Lumière.

[14] Reynaud hired George Foottit and Chocolat to perform a William Tell routine at Parc de Saint-Cloud and recorded them using the photo-scénographe in April 1896.

[13] Henri Langlois convinced Reynaud's son to donate surviving praxinoscopes and Autour d'une cabine to the Cinémathèque Française in the 1930s.

Julien Pappé restored Pauvre Pierrot in 1981, and Autour d'une cabine was transferred to 35mm film in 1985.

The three Photo-peintures animées (animated photo-paintings) were directed with the Photo-Scénographe, a camera inspired by the Chronophotographe à bande mobile of Étienne-Jules Marey.