Plate Number 185. Hopping on left foot

Art Historical Context

Step into the groundbreaking world of motion photography with *Plate Number 185. Hopping on Left Foot* by Eadweard Muy, created in 1887. This collotype print, measuring 25.5 × 29.1 cm, is part of Muybridge's monumental *Animal Locomotion* series a 19th-century scientific endeavor that captured human and animal movement through sequential photographs. Using a battery of up to 24 cameras triggered by electro-mechanical devices, Muybridge froze everyday actions—like this dynamic hop on one foot—challenging the naked eye's perception and proving myths wrong, such as the idea that all four horse legs lift off the ground at once. As a collotype, a precise photomechanical printing technique, this plate allowed for high-fidelity reproduction of Muybridge's originals, making his discoveries accessible beyond the lab. Housed in the National Gallery of Art's Corcoran Collection (acquired via museum purchase in 1887), it exemplifies the fusion of art and science in the Victorian era. Muybridge's work not only advanced physiology and biomechanics but also paved the way for cinema, inspiring filmmakers like the Lumière brothers. Imagine the athlete mid-leap, muscles taut in perfect sequence—this single frame from a grid of motion invites us to ponder the poetry of movement, bridging 19th-century innovation with our modern love for stop-motion and animation.

About the Artist

Eadweard Muybridge · 1830–1904

Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904) was an English-American photographer who revolutionized the understanding of motion through his pioneering chronophotographic studies. Born Edward James Muggeridge in Kingston upon Thames, England, he emigrated to America and became famous first for his dramatic landscape photographs of Yosemite Valley, then for his groundbreaking motion studies that proved horses li...