A cultural geographer and an art historian offer fresh interpretations
of Muybridge's famous motion studies through the lenses of mobility and
race.
In 1878, Eadweard Muybridge successfully photographed horses in motion,
proving that all four hooves leave the ground at once for a split second
during full gallop. This was the beginning of Muybridge's decades-long
investigation into instantaneous photography, culminating in his
masterpiece Animal Locomotion. Muybridge became one of the most
influential photographers of his time, and his stop-motion technique
helped pave the way for the motion-picture industry, born a short decade
later.
Coauthored by cultural geographer Tim Cresswell and art historian John
Ott, this book reexamines the motion studies as historical forms of
"mobility," in which specific forms of motion are given extraordinary
significance and accrued value. Through a lively, interdisciplinary
exchange, the authors explore how mobility is contextualized within the
transformations of movement that marked the nineteenth century and how
mobility represents the possibilities of social movement for African
Americans. Together, these complementary essays look to Muybridge's
works as interventions in knowledge and experience and as opportunities
to investigate larger social ramifications and possibilities.
