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Photographer Eadweard Muybridge captured the motion of a horse to settle a bet and ended up capturing popular imagination

WHEN Edweard Muybridge set up an experiment to settle an argument over what happened with a horse’s legs while it galloped, his innovations had an effect far beyond determining the motion of a horse

The 12-picture sequence of a horse in motion taken by photographer Eadweard Muybridge on June 15, 1878.
The 12-picture sequence of a horse in motion taken by photographer Eadweard Muybridge on June 15, 1878.

IT was a scientific experiment but one with unscientific origins and decidedly artistic consequences. Photographer Eadweard Muybridge had set up 12 cameras along a racetrack at Palo Alto, California.

Each camera was attached to a trip wire so that as a horse galloped along the track each would take a picture. Muybridge was trying to settle an argument between railroad magnate and former Californian governor Leland Stanford and his horse racing friends about what happens to a horse’s legs while it is galloping. Most people thought that at least one of the horse’s legs was in contact with the ground, but Stanford believed that horses could fly, or at least that all four legs were airborne at some point.

It was an opinion shared by many artists when they painted horses trotting or galloping, showing them with legs extended, none touching the ground. In 1876 Muybridge had tried to end all dispute with a picture he snapped of Stanford’s horse Occident, showing all the legs off the ground, tucked under. But he was accused of doctoring the photo.\

Pioneering photographer Eadweard Muybridge in 1899.
Pioneering photographer Eadweard Muybridge in 1899.

But on June 15, 1878, he ended all speculation with his array of cameras. When he developed the images it showed clearly the movement of a horse’s legs, with two of the 12 images showing a horse in mid flight, no hoofs touching the ground.

With one experiment the eccentric Muybridge had changed ideas about animal motion, also influencing the painting of artworks with horses and inspiring the creation of motion pictures.

Muybridge began life as Edward James Muggeridge, born in 1830 in Kingston-Upon-Thames, Surrey, England. His father John was a coal merchant, his mother Susan ran the business after John died in 1843.

Muybridge didn’t follow in his parents’ footsteps, and in 1850 emigrated to the US where he became a successful bookseller. He adopted the name Eadweard because he believed it was the original Anglo-Saxon spelling and changed his last name to Muygridge then Muybridge.

In 1860 he suffered a serious head injury while travelling in a coach in Texas. After the accident people noticed a change in his temperament and behaviour. While recuperating in England, Muybridge developed an interest in photography and began studying it.

By the time he returned to the US in 1867 he was already established as a professional photographer, setting himself up in San Francisco. Not satisfied with earning a living snapping portraits in a studio, Muybridge lugged his camera equipment to rugged or remote places to bring images of America to city dwellers.

Eadweard Muybridge’s photograph of South Fallon Lighthouse in California in 1871.
Eadweard Muybridge’s photograph of South Fallon Lighthouse in California in 1871.

Signing his work “Helios”, the name of the Greek sun god, he became famous for his atmospheric, clear images of America’s landscape. He also pioneered photographic reportage, taking pictures of native Americans during the Modoc War of 1872-73, a conflict between the US army and the Modoc people in northeastern California.

In 1872 Stanford hired him to take photographs of a horse in motion to settle the argument about whether the legs leave the ground. Muybridge was fascinated. He began to create a camera with a faster shutter speed and film sensitive enough to register a crisp image. But personal problems beset his research.

That same year he married 21-year-old Flora Stone. After returning from one of his long periods away with his camera he discovered she was pregnant to drama critic Harry Larkyns. Muybridge pursued Larkyns and shot him dead then surrendered himself to the police.

Photographer Eadweard Muybridge on a horse in Guatemala in 1875.
Photographer Eadweard Muybridge on a horse in Guatemala in 1875.

His wife filed for divorce while he stood trial for murder. But in 1875 he was acquitted which allowed him to return to photography. He travelled to South America where he went by the name Eduardo Santiago Muybridge. During this time Flora died, and Muybridge paid to look after the son that wasn’t his.

By 1877 he was back on the case for Stanford, taking his “automatic electro-photograph” of Occident (it would lead to the first uses of the photo finish to decide winners at race tracks in the 1880s). This was followed in 1878 by his 12 picture sequence of a horse’s motion. He later published a book The Horse In Motion detailing his findings.

Building on this success, he did away with the trip wires and increased the number of cameras, using electromagnetic timers to open the shutters. He filmed other animals in motion and later human beings, including himself, often nude.

With his inventive mind he devised a way to make the still images move and projected them on a screen, based on the spinning drum toy with slits known as a zoetrope. He called his device the “zoopraxiscope” and used it at lectures on animal motion. His device became popular and would lead to the development of motion pictures.

Muybridge retired in the 1890s and returned to England where he died of prostate cancer in 1904.

Originally published as Photographer Eadweard Muybridge captured the motion of a horse to settle a bet and ended up capturing popular imagination

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