The Male and Female Figure in Motion

Now artists, illustrators, photographers, and scientists can have Eadweard Muybridge's rare, unparalleled true action photographs in an inexpensive paperbound edition. Sixty classic photographic sequences of the male and female figure in motion, selected from the monumental original collection of 781, have been painstakingly reproduced on fine coated stock. Taken at speeds ranging up to 1/6000th of a second, these incredibly precise images show undraped subjects against ruled backgrounds in countless actions, most from three angles: front, rear, and three-quarter view. You'll find men boxing, hammering, heaving a rock, walking, running, leaping, climbing steps, carrying weights, and playing baseball, cricket, and football. Dozens of stopped-action photographs show women walking, turning, kneeling, jumping, bending, dancing, and dressing. And several sequences illustrate children in various activities. No more complete study of the human body in action has ever been done. Countless split-second motions involved in even the simplest movements — the curling of toes, the shift of gravity centers, the tightening and relaxing of muscles, the myriad of subtle details that make drawings, paintings, and animations come to life — are captured in these historic photographs. Eadweard Muybridge's nineteenth-century masterpiece remains one of the greatest achievements of art and photography. This edition brings a superb selection of classic action photographs within everyone's reach.