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The last two posts have been focused on the horsemen of the Americas, but not enough has been said about the horses themselves. Portrait photographer Tim Flach is no stranger to photographing pets and animals, but in his series Equus, he not only captures images of different breed and colors of these domesticated mounts, he shows the beauty of the horse in all its wild and noble ways.


Tim Flach is no stranger to this blog; he's already been featured here for his sometimes amusing but always thought-provoking images of dogs. It's no surprise then that he is highly sought-after for his ability to capture animals in unorthodox styles for different purposes, from advertising shots to family photos. For him, an engagement with an animal subject doesn't merely mean another photo shoot, but a chance to create an animal portrait.

Over the years, he has honed his ability in trying to coax out emotion out of animals. Whether it's knowing when to take a break from the photo shoot, or allowing the handler or owner to be a few steps away, Flach understands what's needed to create the animal portrait his client wants.


Flach spent two years on this project, traveling around the world in order to capture different horse breeds, environments and behaviors. Aside from the obvious physical beauty of these creatures, Flach also wanted to capture something more abstract, looking at how people would react to something familiar presented in a new way. To illustrate his point, in the shot of the horses' necks and backs above, a viewer might liken them to the face of a mountain, but still be able to tell that they're part of a horse.

Thus, Flach is able to create something new out of something familiar. This may explain why he focused on animals in the first place as it allows him to evoke new imagery in the anthropomorphic manner that humans relate to other living things.



Indeed, in almost every photograph, the photographer is able to draw out different imagery not necessarily related to the original subject. For example, with his shot of a horse embryo, Flach feels that it's evocative of a tiny planet while the horse with an eye surgery mask looks more like a boxer.

Of course, it's not just the suggestive imagery that drew Flach to these animals, it's also the shared history between man and horse. Throughout man's history, the horse has been a subject of fascination and folklore; some of the earliest cave paintings depict equine creatures and Western civilization wouldn't have been possible without the domestication of the horse. Even now, horses are still used for work, sports and entertainment.


The Equus series not just about horses; it's also reflective of their human handlers. While in many of Flach's images the horses are left in their natural habitat, there are also studio shots of thoroughbred horses fitted with different protective gear and devices. Photographing these animals also meant photographic their current state in relation to humans.

Even in the wild, some photographs depict the romantic image of the horse, whether it's an Arabian horse rearing on golden dunes or Mustangs racing across the range or a Camarigue horses galloping through the French wetlands, the photographs are always rooted in the human perception of all things.


Tim Flach's website is here, with more photographs from his Equus series. For a complete catalog of images, go for the book Equus. There's also a website dedicated solely to limited editions of the Equus book for those who are interested not only in the beauty of the horse but also on the book itself, aptly titled Equus Limited Edition. Don't forget about Flach's other photo book, Dogs, which is still also available.

The previous post was a reminder of what an amazing and diverse culture the Horsemen of the Americas have. Through Luis Fabini's photographs, the whole world is reminded of the vanishing ways of the Old West. But is it just now that these traditional practices are in danger of being lost? Well, thanks to the early color prints of the Detroit Photographic Company, you can see for yourself just how different (or similar) the cowboys of a hundred years ago are to those of today.


These beautifully restored color images were made by the Detroit Photographic Company, later renamed the Detroit Publishing Company. The company produced prints and postcards of scenes from most of the US Mainland states using an early form of producing color prints called Photochrome.

These outstanding Photochrome prints come from a set called Views of landscape, architecture and people, and were made between 1898 and 1905. They show what life was like at the turn of the 20th century, mostly through scenes with landscape views of most of the major US cities and landmarks, but sometimes with images of the life of the early 20th century working man such as these.


A Photocrome (alternatively spelled Photocrom) is a colorized image made from black-and-white negatives. Unlike modern color film, a Photocrome was made by applying a negative to a lithographic stone treated with bitumen and benzene. The negative would then be exposed to daylight after which it would be treated with a solvent, leaving an image print on the stone, which becomes the "negative" for each color used.

The Photochrome process was popular from its inception in the 1880s up to the first decades of the 20th century. By then, the early true color photographic process known as Autochrome became more fashionable. In 1935, Kodachrome became available, signaling an end to other early color photographic methods.


The images from this set aren't as one-sided as other documentary ventures were, for example the photographs of the Native American people by Edward S. Curtis. Here, the Detroit Photographic Co. made a visual record of most of United States, producing over 25,000 negatives and transparencies, including over 300 color prints.

With a group of photographers under its employ including surveyor and photographer William Henry Jackson, the company was able to create an astounding portrait of old America. Thus, on one end you see rugged cowboys, miners and frontier men depicting the romantic image of the American Old West, on the other you see that modern recreational pastime of beach goers at Coney Island. You even have an early image of the Statue of Liberty in the initial stages of gaining its green patina over its copper skin.

These images goes to show that even back then, the old ways of the horsemen were already in danger of being lost from urbanization and modernization.


You can view the entire photographic archive of the Detroit Photographic Company (aka Detroit Publishing Company) over here. The rest of the Photochrome set, including the images from the Old West, can be viewed here. For old photographs of the Native American Nations, go here. For a modern look into the cowboy culture, check out this post.

Over the weekend, photographer Luis Fabini contacted me to share a new video he made celebrating the Horsemen of the Americas. Regular readers of this blog will be familiar with his name as he was featured a few months ago over here with his evocative photographs of cowboys, llaneros, vaqueiros and gauchos from all over North and South America.



(If you have trouble with the embedded video, you can watch it here: http://youtu.be/hj2zLj9pvTk)

For anyone who's had trouble telling apart a gaucho from a vaqueiro or a charro from a llanero, this video will be of interest to you as Fabini shows his beautiful photographs along with a little map pinpointing where these different horsemen come from. It doesn't hurt that there's stirring music from Cuarteto Zitarrosa.

The simple four-minute video shows just how connected these different horsemen are, despite the diversity of location and lifestyle. Iif you missed the first post on Luis Fabini, check out more of his amazing Horsemen of the Americas photographs here.