Jumping: Running Straight High Jump (plate 152)

Using exposures as rapid as 1/2000th second, Muybridge exhaustively recorded human and animal movement at the University of Pennsylvania from 1884 to 1886. He photographed a bewildering array of subjects, from men and women performing everyday tasks to the gaits of dogs, horses and elephants. His technique involved the use of two batteries of twelve cameras each to produce both lateral and front views of simple actions. The resulting images multiply space and fragment time, creating effects that are both scientifically true and curiously alien to "normal" perception.