Muybridge photographs 'Sallie Gardner at a Gallop'

Background. Leland Stanford, a former California governor and racehorse owner, hired Eadweard Muybridge in 1872 to photograph his possessions, including the racehorse Occident. By 1877, Muybridge had resumed work for Stanford, producing clearer single images of the horse at speed. These efforts attracted attention and led to the development of an unprecedented series of time-spaced photographs, setting the stage for the 1878 experiments.

Methodology. In June 1878, Muybridge employed a battery of twelve cameras along the race track at Stanford’s Palo Alto Stock Farm. The setup relied on an electrical circuit where wires were tripped by the horse’s movement, causing each shutter to open sequentially. This technique allowed for the capture of distinct positions in a stride, forming the basis for the published series of automatic electro-photographs.

Publication. The resulting images were published as cabinet cards by Morse’s gallery in San Francisco. Muybridge registered these for copyright at the Library of Congress in July 1878. The series, titled The Horse in Motion, included cards depicting successive phases of movement. These publications were significant in disseminating the findings to the public and scientific community.