How did Thomas Eakins use photography to study athletes and animals in motion?

Thomas Eakins was deeply fascinated by locomotion and the mechanics of the human and animal body in motion. His interest was initially sparked by a commission to paint a coach in motion, which led him to study horse anatomy and create sculpted wax sketches.1

Eakins’s pursuit of understanding movement brought him into contact with the pioneering sequential photography experiments of Eadweard Muybridge. By 1884, Eakins began conducting his own experiments with multiple-image photography to capture moving athletes and animals. He also collaborated with Muybridge during the latter's project at the University of Pennsylvania, where he assisted in producing sequential photographs of various subjects in motion. These photographic studies served as a vital tool for Eakins, allowing him to analyze the physical realities of movement that he later translated into his artistic work, including his series of boxing paintings.12