Skeleton of Horse

Eadweard Muybridge's Skeleton of Horse (1881) is a striking reminder of the painstaking efforts of scientists working in motion photography in the nineteenth century. This first attempt at stop-motion animation is remarkable for its sharpness. By the 1880s, Muybridge had perfected his technology to explore different ways of reproducing movement. The production follows the staging first applied at Leland Stanford’s Palo Alto Stock Farm in 1878, where the action of a live horse is replaced by the deliberate rearrangement of the animal’s skeleton performing a hurdle jump. The careful attention to every detail is most evident in this surreal proto-film, exemplifying the director’s dedication to his craft and keen photographic eye. The result is a remarkable meeting point of technology and art.