"The Poet of the Frozen Moment"

"Stanford wanted an answer to a question that he had debated with fellow horsemen: Does a running horse lift all four feet at the same time? In 1872 he asked Muybridge, a well-known San Francisco photographer, to find the answer with his camera.
"An immigrant from England, Muybridge was known for his striking photographs of the California landscape and a famous panoramic picture of San Francisco. To satisfy Stanford’s curiosity, he set up a series of cameras to open their shutters in succession as a horse ran past. It took a while, but in 1877 he had an answer for Stanford (yes) and a new career for himself."

Robert Fulford in The National Post considers the pioneering photographer Eadweard Muybridge.