1878: the Muybridge equine series
Studying the horse, we understand
how hard-core followed the invention
of photography. There’s a dark compelling
muscle framed by the flanks. There’s
a question, an academic question, of at
which point in a leap the female breast
is highest? In the early stopwatched studies,
light sloped down the breasts like a scree.
There’s a question of time, there’s a sepia
exactitude. The powder erupts:
in the foreground—two lovers / a basket / red wine.
In the back, a clocked thoroughbred sudses.
Is there ever a moment when all four feet
leave the ground?
And so we invent pornography.
Extract from Albert Goldbarth,
‘The Origin of Porno’, Comings Back, Doubleday, 1976.
