Plate 510—Contortions on the ground, 1887
Vintage collotype
Image size 7 1/4 x 16 1/2 in.
Sheet size 14 x 20 in.
April 7, 2025
Don't try this at home kids! When Eadweard Muybridge produced this image sequence in the 19th century, contortionists were an established and popular part of circus acts, but the traditions stretched back through time and across innumerable cultures.
Muybridge's project was organized as a scientific study of "animal locomotion," but this picture is an outlier in the series, in that it omits the transitions between poses and doesn't capture the body in motion. Nevertheless, it's impossible to miss the lively and rhythmic composition created by this delightful, frieze-like sequence, which brings to mind the feats of athletes and acrobats found on painted Greek pottery. Pieces like this one brought Muybridge's scientific endeavors closer to the realms of both entertainment and fine art, highlighting the historical overlaps between these fields.
