Duncan was the son of noted palaeontologist
Peter Martin Duncan. While a student he assisted his father by taking up photography, and acquired a particular interest in
microphotography. In the early 1890s he experimented with
chronophotography (sequence photography), showing the results in motion on a
Zoetrope. In the early 1900s he experimented with colour processes;
Gloucester Journal reported on a November 1907 meeting at the Blenheim Club at which he had shown insect and butterfly photographs made on Autochrome, and also with an eight-second sunlight exposure on the recently invented
Warner-Powrie plates. Duncan was recruited by
Charles Urban for the newly formed
Charles Urban Trading Company in 1903. Together they launched a film series,
The Unseen World, showcased at the
Alhambra Theatre in
London from 17 August 1903, which showed scenes of animal life, with particular emphasis on micro-cinematographic views. The shows were advertised as being shown by the 'Urban-Duncan Micro-Bioscope'. ==Filmography==