Plate Number 99. Turning and ascending stairs

Art Historical Context

Eadweard Muybridge's *Plate Number 99. Turning and Ascending Stairs* (1887) is a captivating entry from his monumental *Animal Locomotion* series, a pioneering photographic study of human and animal movement. Commissioned by the University of Pennsylvania, Muybridge captured thousands of sequential images using multiple cameras triggered in rapid succession, revolutionizing our understanding of motion. This collotype print, part of the Corcoran Collection at the National Gallery of Art, measures 17.55 × 43.1 cm and exemplifies his chronophotographic technique, blending art and science. The image freezes a nude figure mid-action—turning while ascending stairs—revealing the fluid mechanics of the body in unprecedented detail. Collotype, a photomechanical process invented in the 1850s, allowed for exquisite reproductions faithful to Muybridge's originals, making these studies accessible to scientists, artists, and the public. His work debunked artistic myths about anatomy in motion and laid groundwork for motion pictures, influencing pioneers like the Lumière brothers. This plate invites visitors to ponder the poetry in precision: Muybridge, once acquitted in a sensational murder trial, transformed photography into a tool for discovery, bridging 19th-century curiosity with modern media. A testament to innovation, it reminds us how a single frozen moment can unlock the rhythm of life.

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...