Plate Number 213. Lifting and emptying basket 1887

Editor: Eadweard Muybridge's "Plate Number 213. Lifting and emptying basket," created in 1887, is a gelatin silver print. It shows a sequence of a woman’s actions. It's quite clinical in its approach, like a scientific study of movement. What's your perspective on this particular piece, considering its historical context? Curator: Ah, yes, Muybridge. For me, these motion studies are less clinical and more like captured poems. Think about it: the Victorian era, obsessed with classifying and knowing, meets the very human desire to dance, to work, to simply *be*. This particular image makes me consider our relationship with labor. Lifting and emptying – the mundane tasks elevated by the sheer act of observation. What story do you think she's trying to tell through these poses? Editor: I suppose it shows how photography could be used as a tool to study the human body, something revolutionary back then. But what about the fact that the figure is unclothed? Does that add another layer of meaning or commentary? Curator: Absolutely! It strips away the societal artifice, leaving the essential form. It’s both vulnerable and powerful, isn't it? Consider how rarely women controlled their own image in art back then. Muybridge inadvertently gave this woman a platform, a chance to script her own performance. Though, of course, he was orchestrating the scene. Perhaps the tension between control and liberation is precisely what makes it so captivating. Do you get the sense that this changes how we view art from that time? Editor: It really does. I never thought about it that way – seeing her actions as a type of performance. It really invites a whole new dialogue with the image. Thank you! Curator: The beauty, isn't it, is finding these fresh dialogues within old frames? Keeps us all moving, thinking.