Archive for February, 2007

Nebraska Horses

Saturday, February 3rd, 2007

Duet-I-736115My friend David recently said I had a “minimalist blog.” Although I like the way that sounds … very trendy and artsy … I guess it’s time to begin posting more frequently.

I’ll begin by talking about the series of Horse images in my New Work gallery. I was driving to my hometown in the midwest last summer taking backroads as a shortcut. I was somewhere in Nebraska and kept passing fields of horses, big and little. Even though I grew up in a small town in Minnesota, I’m what they mean when they say “city girl.” The only time I’ve been around horses has been a couple of trail rides and, once, a childhood friend let me help groom her horse. The only reason I remember that occasion is because I was very late coming home and there was hell to pay. I never had much use for horses after that.

Duet-II-741329So here I am in Nebraska driving past field after field of mares and their colts and thinking “too bad I don’t photograph horses.” After about the fifth field, I’m on the phone talking to my friend, Bob, and I can’t stand it any longer. I say an abrupt goodbye and slam on the brakes. I tell Tulip to stay, grab my camera out of the backseat and run down into the ditch on the opposite side of the road and start shooting.

SafeHaven-700949As if they’d been waiting for their session, these immense grey mares walk over to the fence and begin to pose for their portraits. It was incredible. I spent about 45 minutes standing in that ditch and I will never forget those incredible animals. That’s the thing about photographing for me; it’s always about entering into a relationship with whatever or whoever the camera is focused on. By the time I finish, I feel I’ve experienced the subject in some way I couldn’t have expected.

So, now I’m a horse photographer and when I leave for Tucson soon, I’ll be scanning the sides of the road for more opportunities to spend some time with these magnificent animals. I’ll let you know if I find any.

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