Opstelling met 24 camera's voor het fotograferen van rennende paarden before 1882

Eadweard Muybridge made this image of twenty-four cameras in sequence for photographing running horses. This was part of his extended project on animal locomotion. Photography’s emergence in the 19th century was transformative for visual culture and our understanding of the world. Muybridge was commissioned to discover whether all four feet of a horse were simultaneously off the ground at any point during its trot. Leland Stanford, a railroad magnate and racehorse owner, wanted to study the gaits of his horses in greater detail. Muybridge’s technical innovation lay in his use of multiple cameras triggered in rapid succession. The individual images were then reassembled to create the illusion of movement. The project was underwritten by the wealthy, for their own entertainment. Muybridge’s work reveals how technological advancements in art and science were often intertwined with economic interests. A study of the photographic archive, and of publications of the time, can provide insight into this relationship.