Plate Number 39. Walking; hands engaged in knitting 1887

Eadweard Muybridge’s “Plate Number 39. Walking; hands engaged in knitting” (1887) is a seminal work in the development of photography. It captures a woman walking while knitting, a seemingly simple action that Muybridge breaks down into a series of 12 sequential images, each showing a different stage of the movement. These photographic plates were used to create the illusion of motion, laying the groundwork for the invention of cinema. Muybridge's innovative approach to capturing and studying motion, known as chronophotography, revolutionized our understanding of human movement and the very nature of time.