Plate Number 352. "Shoulder," "order" and "carry arms" 1887

Editor: Here we have "Plate Number 352. 'Shoulder,' 'order' and 'carry arms'" a gelatin silver print from 1887 by Eadweard Muybridge. It's quite striking—almost like a flipbook flattened onto a single plane. It's fascinating to see movement broken down so scientifically, and yet it still manages to have a rather odd, performative quality. What catches your eye when you look at this? Curator: Well, isn’t it something? Muybridge was forever chasing the fleeting moments we barely perceive. The charm, for me, is the human element juxtaposed with such stark clinical intent. It's like peering into the past, a sort of Victorian-era CGI, attempting to capture what a glance might otherwise miss. Doesn't it strike you as strangely beautiful, this pursuit of exactitude? He’s stripping things down to bare mechanics. A body. A gun. Ordered movement. Editor: I can see that! So, you think that this scientific breakdown of movement elevates the action beyond just… well, carrying arms? Curator: Precisely! We see not just the action, but also a suggestion of the infinite possibilities within a simple gesture. There is a rhythm created here - each snapshot resonating together with what precedes and what follows to create a song of light and form. Don't you see echoes of early cinema and the seeds of so many modern explorations with time, the body and identity? Editor: Wow, I didn't think about it that way! It’s less a still image, more an anticipation of what comes next. Like a promise. Thanks, that makes so much sense. Curator: The magic is often in those spaces between intent and observation, between frames, isn’t it?