Unidentified photographer

PORTRAIT OF EADWEARD J. MUYBRIDGE

Born Edward James Muggeridge in England, Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904) immigrated to California and in 1860 he began photographing West Coast landscapes. By 1872, he was experimenting with photography in motion, initiated largely by Leland Stanford, onetime governor of California. Legend has it that Stanford wanted to settle a bet that all four feet of a horse are off the ground at one time when it is running. Muybridge provided photographic evidence by using a series of cameras set up along the track, with strings from the shutters stretched across the track. The running horse triggered the shutters, taking its own pictures. From the series of pictures taken, Muybridge was able to prove that all four feet were indeed in the air simultaneously.