The photograph titled “Turning around in surprise and running away” was created by Eadweard Muybridge in the years 1884-85. It is a series of sequential images, part of his groundbreaking work in capturing motion through still photography.
In the photograph, there are multiple sequential frames showing a nude man. The sequence captures the motion of the man turning his head as if something has caught his attention, and then displaying a range of movements where he turns his entire body around and starts to run away from his original position. Each frame depicts a different stage of this motion, showing a detailed progression of human movement. The images are taken against a measured backdrop which also aids in highlighting the motion and distance covered by the subject in each shot. This photograph is typical of Muybridge’s work, where he meticulously dissected the motions of humans and animals to study and record the dynamics of movement.
