Man Climbing Ladder, Plate III
Eadweard Muybridge; New York Photogravure Co.
Description
Subject Matter:
This photograph is divided in a grid of two rows, each made up of eleven vertical images. In these images, a naked man climbs the rungs of a ladder, each frame showing the movement of his body as he makes his ascent. The top row of images depict this action with the man’s back to the viewer with the ladder propped against a dark background. The action can be read from left to right as a sequence of incremental movements, showing the subtle nuances of the man’s body as he climbs. The bottom row of images depict the same action with what is presumably the same man, though from a side view and located in an exterior environment. Numbered in the bottom left corner of each frame, the photograph has the feel of a scientific document, created and controlled as an observed experiment. Additionally, the multiple frames reference movement and mark the beginnings of what would later become the moving image. The kinetic movement of the man is captured in a series of fractured images, which when arranged in a sequence, depict the clear progression of his movement.
Physical Description:
This photograph is divided in a grid of two rows, each made up of eleven vertical images. In each of these frames, a naked man is shown climbing the rungs of a ladder. Each frame depicts the movement of his body as he makes his ascent.
Usage Rights:
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