throwing self on heap of hay
One of the founding fathers of modern cinema, Eadweard Muybridge famously introduced motion into photography by pioneering the technique of stop-action photography. (The principle behind his technique is still used, with some computer help; a recent example being the bullet sequence in 'The Matrix'.)
His life's work, a collection titled 'Animal Locomotion' and containing 20,000 photos in all, is a curious mix of biomechanical science and Victorian naughtiness. Various animals and humans are shown in characteristic movement: horses and cats running, birds flying and nude males conducting sports (jumping, rowing, throwing, boxing, fencing) -- while nude females are shown waving a handkerchief or putting on a dress.
Here the scientific titles of his plates turn slightly ridiculous, with descriptions like 'Movements, Female, Miscellaneous phases of the toilet' or 'Movements, Female, Lifting shawl, putting around shoulders, turning.' But the most hilarious example must be the one titled 'Throwing Self on Heap of Hay', showing a woman, well... throwing herself on a heap of hay. (A partial animation of this plate, alas lacking the actual 'throwing herself', can be found here.)
Described by a contemporary as "Walt Whitman ready to play King Lear," Muybridge's biography reads like an improbable adventure novel. His death, like his life, befitted his eccentric genius: after returning to England, he died in 1904 while building a model of the Great Lakes in his backyard.
UPenn, which at the time provided many of Muybridge's models, has a great Muybridge Collection.
Stanford Magazine has an interesting article on Muybridge, 'The Man Who Stopped Time'.