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Eadweard Muybridge

Animal Locomotion

February 20 – May 31, 2023

Sequence of black and white photos showing a well dressed man walking and taking off his hat.

Plate 44—Walking, taking off hat, 1887
Collotype
Image size 8 x 13 3/4 in.
Sheet size 14 x 20 in.

Sequence of black and white photos showing a woman in old fashioned dress executing a lawn tennis serve.

Plate 298—Lawn tennis; serving, 1887
Collotype
Image size10 x 12 3/8 in.
Sheet size 14 x 20 in.

Sequence of black and white photos showing movements of two men boxing.

Plate 331—Boxing; stop for cross-buttocks (shoes), 1887
Collotype
Image size: 8 x 14 1/2 in.
Sheet size 14 x 20 in.

Sequence of black and white photos showing a woman opening a parasol.

Plate 461—Opening a parasol, and turning around, 1887
Collotype
Image size 7 3/4 x 15 3/4 in.
Sheet size 14 x 20 in.

Sequence of black and white photos showing a child giving a bouquet to a kneeling woman

Plate 465—Child bringing a bouquet to a woman (Two Models, Child 70N, Bringing Bouquet to 12), 1887
Collotype
Image size 9 3/4 x 12 1/8 in.
Sheet size 14 x 20 in.

Sequence of black and white photos showing two men fencing.

Plate 349—Fencing, 1887
Collotype
Image size 7 x 16 1/2 in.
Sheet size 14 x 20 in.

Sequence of black and white photos showing a man executing a headspring that is interrupted by a pigeon.

Plate 365—Head-spring, a flying pigeon interfering, 1887
Collotype
Image size 8 x 14 1/4 in.
Sheet size 14 x 20 in.

Sequence of black and white photos showing a man doing yogic contortions.

Plate 510—Contortions on the ground, 1887
Collotype
Image size 7 1/4 x 16 1/2 in.
Sheet size 14 x 20 in.

Sequence of black and white photos showing a child amputee getting on a chair

Plate 538—Double amputation of thighs; bor; A, moving forward; B, getting on chair, 1887
Collotype
Image size: 6 1/2 x 17 1/2 in.
Sheet size 14 x 20 in.

Sequence of black and white photos showing a cantering horse and rider

Plate 616—Canter; saddle; bay horse Daisy, 1887
Collotype
Image size 8 3/4 x 13 in.
Sheet size 14 x 20 in.

Sequence of black and white photos showing a horse with rider leaping a hurdle

Plate 637— Jumping a hurdle; clearing, landing and recovering; bay horse Daisy, 1887
Collotype
Image size 10 x 12 in.
Sheet size 14 x 20 in.

Sequence of black and white photos showing a horse with a nude rider jumping

Plate 643—Jumping a hurdle; bareback; clearing and landing; rider, 105, nude; gray mare Pandora, 1887
Collotype
Image size 5 3/4 x 18 1/8 in.
Sheet size 14 x 20 in.

Sequence of black and white photos showing a mule kicking

Plate 659, Mule; A, B, bucking and kicking Ruth
Collotype
Image size: 9 3/4 x 12 1/2 in.
Seet size 14 x 20 in.

Sequence of 19th century black and white photos showing a young child riding a donkey.

Plate 665—Ass; walking; bareback; a boy riding, Jennie, 1887
Collotype
Sheet size 14 x 20 in.

Sequence of black and white photos showing a mule

Plate 661—Mule; A, B, a refractory animal Ruth, 1887
Collotype
Image size8 x 14 5/8 in.
Sheet size 14 x 20 in.

Sequence of black and white photos showing movement of a galloping elk.

Plate 693—Elk galloping, 1887
Collotype
Sheet size 14 x 20 in.

Sequence of black and white photos showing a buffalo galloping

Plate 700—Buffalo; galloping, 1887
Collotype
Image size 8 7/8 x 13 5/8 in.
Sheet size 14 x 20 in.

Sequence of black and white photos showing dogs tugging at a towel

Plate 715—Dogs; three, tugging at a towel, Ike, Maggie, etc, 1887
Collotype
Image size 6 1/2 x 17 1/4 in.
Sheet size 14 x 20 in.

Sequence of black and white photos showing a cat trotting

Plate 718—Cat; trotting; change to galloping, 1887
Collotype
Image size: 6 5/8 x 17 1/2 in.
Sheet size 14 x 20 in.

Sequence of black and white photos showing male lion walking and turning around.

Plate 723—Lion walking and turning around, 1887
Collotype
Sheet size 14 x 20 in.

Sequence of black and white photos showing movement of walking tigress.

Plate 729—Tigress; Walking,1887
Collotype
Sheet size 14 x 20 in.

Sequence of black and white photos showing an elephant walking

Plate 733—Elephant; walking, 1887
Collotype
Image size 8 1/8 x 14 7/8 in.
Sheet size 14 x 20 in.

Sequence of black and white photos showing movement of a galloping camel.

Plate 740—Bactrian camel galloping, 1887
Collotype
Sheet size 14 x 20 in.

Sequence of black and white photos showing movement of a running ostrich.

Plate 773—Ostrich running, 1887
Collotype
Sheet size 14 x 20 in.

Press Release

Eadweard Muybridge
Selections from:
ANIMAL LOCOMOTION
An Electro-Photographic Investigation of Consecutive Phases of Animal Movements
Commenced 1872 - Completed 1885 - Published 1887

It all began with a horse. In 1872, the former governor of California, Leland Stanford, hired Eadweard Muybridge to make a photograph that would be the first of its kind: a picture capturing the gate of his racehorse Occident galloping at full speed. Thus began Muybridge’s quest to develop high-speed photography that could capture “animal locomotion”.

On June 15th, 1878, the press was invited to witness Muybridge's early achievements in this area: using a bank of 12 cameras on a Palo Alto race track which (with shutters triggered by a tripwire) he could capture the movements of a galloping horse. The news of this innovation was reported across the world—publishers could not yet reproduce high quality photographs, so magazines like Scientific American printed the images using wood engravings.

Muybridge was invited to continue this work at the University of Pennsylvania and between 1883 and 1886 he worked prolifically, creating sequential images with his multi-camera setup in his new outdoor studio. He recruited athletes and local residents as models, and even borrowed animals from the Philadelphia Zoo. The photos were published in 1887 as a 11 volume collotype portfolio with 781 plates: Animal Locomotion: an Electro-photographic Investigation of Consecutive Phases of Animal Movements.

After the portfolio was published, Muybridge travelled widely, lecturing on the "Science of Animal Locomotion". He used a device he had invented, the “zoopraxiscope”, to project his photographs in an early motion picture technique and, thus, operated the first commercial movie theaters.