Clip description
This clip shows a group of men posing for the camera at the 1896 Melbourne Cup. Unfamiliar with moving image, the men remain still as if posing for a photograph. A horse gallops into the foreground and blocks our view until Walter Barnett, the film’s producer, gives the horse a pat on its rump.
Curator’s notes
With the early introduction of moving image film, people tended to remain still, as did the camera.