Muybridge, The Attitudes of Animals in Motion

Getty Conversations

Have you ever wondered what it took to take a photograph in the 1800s? Eadweard J.
Muybridge’s The Attitudes of Animals in Motion is a great example of how photography
changed our understanding of the world, with the ability to capture what the naked eye
cannot see.

Getty has joined forces with Smarthistory to bring you an in-depth look at select works
within our collection, whether you’re looking to learn more at home or want to make art
more accessible in your classroom. This six-part video series illuminates art history
concepts through fun, unscripted conversations between art historians, curators,
archaeologists, and artists, committed to a fresh take on the history of visual arts.

A conversation with Dr. Mazie M. Harris, Assistant Curator, Department of Photographs, Getty Museum and Dr. Steven Zucker, Executive Director, Smarthistory, at Getty Center in front of The Attitudes of Animals in Motion, photographed, 1878–79; printed 1881, Eadweard J. Muybridge.
Iron salt process, 19.5 x 24.7 x 3.1 cm. Getty Museum, Los Angeles.

[lmjohnsono]

Muybridge's work is an amazing and important reference to this day. His other later works detailing human movement is also fascinating. I love my modern copies, they were a fantastic help when I was in art school, and are still fun to browse through. A work for the ages from the infancy of photography, I love it.

[Sasha]

I've never been so curious about the spine of a book, lol. Right off the bat, I want to see what those colorful, golden accents are.
I didn't know light sensitive paper was a thing and wonder what the other applications there are for it.
I have to say that in all the pieces I've seen throughout the ages, there's been surprisingly few horses, now that I think about it. Especially for such a beautiful and useful animal. 🤔 It was interesting to see the mechanics of how they actually run. I'm also impressed by the delicacy and complexity of the image-making process, too. You can tell this was a labor of love and product of passion. 🙂

[rithvikyagnamurthy]

You guys are late, I just had a test on this!