Eadweard Muybridge

Probably the most notable photographer from the late 1800's into the 1900's, Eadweard Muybridge changed the way that we view the world around us through photography. He is famous for the images that he took of a horse running in a gallop and putting them together in a loop to create a motion picture. These images were constructed in order to settle a bet between Leland Stanford (former governor of California) and some of his friends. The bet was over the issue of whether all of a horses hooves left the ground at the same time when running. Muybridge sought out to find the truth in this matter through the use of photography. Now obviously he did not have the equipment and technology that we have now days, so that presented an enormous challenge for him. At the time most cameras still used about a 15 second exposure capture and that would not due with what he was trying to accomplish. So through the use of some very expensive equipment and very precise timing he was able to capture different stages of the horses gallop to conclude that indeed all hooves left the ground at the same time at one point during a gallop.