Sarah Gordon
 
Gordon, Sarah
Gordon, Sarah
United States of America
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Description: Indecent Exposures: Eadweard Muybridge’s Animal Locomotion Nudes
https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00197
Photographer Eadweard Muybridge (1830–1904), often termed the father of the motion picture, presented his iconic Animal Locomotion series in 1887. Produced under the auspices of the University of Pennsylvania and encompassing thousands of photographs of humans and animals in motion, the series included more than 300 plates of nude men and women engaged in activities such as swinging a baseball bat, playing leapfrog, and performing housework—an astonishing fact given the period’s standards of propriety.

In the first sustained examination of these nudes and the remarkable success of their production, wide circulation, and reception, Indecent Exposures positions this revolutionary enterprise as central to crucial advancements of the modern era. Muybridge’s nudes ushered in new attitudes toward science and progress, including Darwinian ideas about human evolution and hierarchy; quickened debates over the role of photography and scientific investigation in art; and offered innovative perspectives on the human body.
Print publication date October 2015 (in print)
Print ISBN 9780300209488
EISBN 9780300257410
Illustrations 93
Print Status in print