The Flying Horse Eadweard Muybridge, also known as the Horse in Motion, is an iconic series of images taken by the English photographer Eadweard Muybridge in 1878. The images were created to determine whether a horse’s hooves left the ground when it galloped. The series consists of 24 separate photographs of a galloping horse, and the results of Muybridge’s experiment proved that at least one hoof of a galloping horse does indeed leave the ground. The series of images has become an iconic representation of the concept of motion photography and has been widely used in a variety of films, books, and other art forms.
Muybridge’s Background
Eadweard Muybridge was born in Kingston upon Thames, England, in 1830. He was an accomplished photographer before his famous horse photographs, having published a book of landscape photographs in 1872. He was also a successful studio photographer and had a long career in photography. He moved to the United States in 1867 and began working as a landscape photographer and eventually became a professor of photography at the University of Pennsylvania. It was during this time that he began experimenting with motion photography and eventually produced the Horse in Motion series.
The Experiment
The experiment was commissioned by the businessman and horse racing enthusiast Leland Stanford in 1878. Stanford wanted to prove that at least one hoof of a galloping horse left the ground, and he hired Muybridge to conduct the experiment. Muybridge set up a series of 24 cameras along a racetrack, each one set to take a photograph of a galloping horse. As the horse galloped past the cameras, each one took a photograph, capturing the horse in different stages of movement. The results of the experiment showed that at least one hoof of a galloping horse does indeed leave the ground.
The Impact of Muybridge’s Work
The results of Muybridge’s experiment had a significant impact on the art world. Before the Horse in Motion series, motion photography was not widely used. Muybridge’s work proved that it was possible to capture movement on film, and this opened up a whole new world of possibilities for filmmakers and photographers. The series has since been used in a variety of films, books, and other art forms, and it has become an iconic representation of the concept of motion photography.
Conclusion
The Flying Horse Eadweard Muybridge, also known as the Horse in Motion, is an iconic series of images taken by the English photographer Eadweard Muybridge in 1878. The series consists of 24 separate photographs of a galloping horse, and the results of Muybridge’s experiment proved that at least one hoof of a galloping horse does indeed leave the ground. The series of images has become an iconic representation of the concept of motion photography and has been widely used in a variety of films, books, and other art forms. Muybridge’s experiment proved that motion photography was possible, and this opened up a whole new world of possibilities for filmmakers and photographers. The Flying Horse Eadweard Muybridge will continue to be a timeless representation of the concept of motion photography.