my glass i unexpectedly saw: Horse in Motion

[Brian Moore]

In the left foreground stands the zoetrope at the California Museum of Photography in Riverside, California.

I took this shot on January 31, 2010, using my Canon T50 and Canon FD 28mm lens. I believe I used Kodak Gold 200 film.

The result was unexpected.

Moments before setting up and taking the shot I had been investigating the zoetrope and in doing so of course I had spun it to observe the illusory motion pictures. I thought nothing more of it once my curiosity was satisfied, and I then went on to capture an image of the room in general.

Only after I got the film developed did I see that the zoetrope had still been spinning when I actually took the picture and that, to my amazement, I had captured a series of stills from inside the zoetrope! (You can just see three of them. They are a set of the famous images by Eadweard Muybridge, "Horse in Motion.")

This was an available light shot, and I had to use a display case as a tripod. I had zero ability to sight through the viewfinder and because of this there was a portion of the image on the right that I didn't want. I generally don't crop my pictures but I cropped that part out of this one.

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Don't you just love it when Synchronicity steps into the photographic process

Very cool shot - will have to pay the museum a visit - never been.

 

[Brian Moore]

Thanks Chris. Yes I love it when that happens. Serendipity also!

By the way, the museum is delightful. It's just across the main drag from the famous Mission Inn. I think admission was $3.00 or something. (Although, I think the museum is affiliated with the University, even though it's not on the campus, so the fee may have risen since December due to the budget shortfall the UC system is undergoing.)