Plate Number 221. Stooping and lifting a 12-lb. basket to head

Art Historical Context

Eadweard Muybridge's *Plate Number 221. Stooping and lifting a 12-lb. basket to head* (1887) captures a pivotal moment in the history of photography and scientific visualization. Part of Muybridge's groundbreaking *Animal Locomotion* series, this collotype print freezes a human figure mid-motion—bending to lift a weighted basket onto the head—in a sequence that dissects everyday biomechanics. Produced just two years after his famous horse-gallop studies proved that all four hooves leave the ground, this work reflects Muybridge's obsession with deconstructing movement, blending art, science, and emerging technology. The collotype medium, a photomechanical process invented in the 1850s, allowed for precise, large-scale reproductions of Muybridge's multiple-exposure photographs (image: 21.75 × 34.3 cm; sheet: 48.5 × 61.2 cm). By arranging synchronized cameras around a subject, Muybridge created grids of sequential images, revealing the fluid poetry of human anatomy in action. Acquired by the Corcoran Gallery in 1887 and now in the National Gallery of Art's Corcoran Collection, this plate exemplifies how photography transitioned from static portraiture to dynamic analysis. Culturally, Muybridge's innovations influenced filmmakers like the Lumière brothers and modern animators, proving that motion is not continuous but a series of discrete instants. Visitors, imagine the basket's 12 pounds testing balance and strength— a humble gesture elevated to scientific marvel!

About the Artist

Eadweard Muybridge · 1830–1904

Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904) was an English-American photographer who revolutionized the understanding of motion through his pioneering chronophotographic studies. Born Edward James Muggeridge in Kingston upon Thames, England, he emigrated to America and became famous first for his dramatic landscape photographs of Yosemite Valley, then for his groundbreaking motion studies that proved horses li...