Mell How did a horse bet led to the first moving pictures?
Inside: Explore how a horse bet led to the first moving pictures. Study Eadweard Muybridge Horse in Motion and its impact on the future of photography and film. Then, stay tuned for next week’s post outlining a lesson plan and project inspired by this early photographic technology.
How did Eadweard Muybridge photograph his horse in motion?
Eadweard Muybridge, Horse in Motion, 1878 The slow shutter speed of the current technology, as well as the inability to take photos in rapid succession, didn’t allow for photographing things in motion, so Muybridge worked with a system of triggers to take multiple photographs of the horse as it ran.
Who was the horse with all four feet off the ground?
It showed Occident, a Stanford racehorse, seemingly with all four feet off the ground. The press and the public failed to accept this as proof, however, because what they saw was obviously retouched. No wonder: The photo had been reproduced by painting it, then photographing the painting, then making a woodcut of the photo.
Why did John Stanford want to take pictures of horses?
Legend has it that Stanford wanted to settle a $25,000 bet by proving that horses “flew,” but most historians doubt that colorful bit. Stanford had retired to the life a country horse breeder, and he wanted proof of what his eyes told him was true. The new medium of photography offered the possibility of that.
Inside: Explore how a horse bet led to the first moving pictures. Study Eadweard Muybridge Horse in Motion and its impact on the future of photography and film. Then, stay tuned for next week’s post outlining a lesson plan and project inspired by this early photographic technology.
Eadweard Muybridge, Horse in Motion, 1878 The slow shutter speed of the current technology, as well as the inability to take photos in rapid succession, didn’t allow for photographing things in motion, so Muybridge worked with a system of triggers to take multiple photographs of the horse as it ran.
It showed Occident, a Stanford racehorse, seemingly with all four feet off the ground. The press and the public failed to accept this as proof, however, because what they saw was obviously retouched. No wonder: The photo had been reproduced by painting it, then photographing the painting, then making a woodcut of the photo.
Legend has it that Stanford wanted to settle a $25,000 bet by proving that horses “flew,” but most historians doubt that colorful bit. Stanford had retired to the life a country horse breeder, and he wanted proof of what his eyes told him was true. The new medium of photography offered the possibility of that.