Athlete Swinging Clubs

The swinging of Indian clubs is a pastime in the world of gymnastics. However, when Eadweard Muybridge photographed Athlete Swinging Clubs (1881), the discipline was highly popular in Victorian society. This short proto-film acts as a valuable document, exhibiting a sport that has lost favour with both athletes and audiences over the years. Prior to this point, such activities could only be imagined through paintings, statues and still photographs. In developing chronophotography, Muybridge used existing technology to make action visible in motion. Though, in this work, the rapid capture of each moment reveals the limitations of photography in achieving smooth continuity, we can still appreciate this rudimentary experiment for allowing us to witness historic movement, rather than merely static snippets of life.