A few weeks ago my photographer friend invited me to a facebook group to observe her mentor's tour of Egypt's Arabian studs, with a group of students in tow. Her mentor being Boiselle, Germany's most beloved horse photographer.
I'd really enjoyed the tour of Egypt, as the students posted photos and videos regularly. Even though I was not allowed. I suppose the only reason I was not kicked out of the group was that I am a lurker. Perhaps no one knew I was there? Now I will abuse that privilege and post photos.
Photo credit Nasr Marei.
I would love to see the holy land, the middle East, heck, I'm so close, I'm almost there already. But, perhaps in Winter. Deep Winter. Those horses were hot.
I got to tour, via facebook, a massive stable with air conditioning, which the Germans were obviously enjoying, cuz it was over 30C outside.
It was snowing in Germany, we had a deep frost 6 entire weeks while they were in Egypt.
I enjoyed the photo shoots, and seeing behind the scenes, the light reflectors and such that my friend has used on my horses.
The style of photography is not my own, they rely heavily on sunlight and length of mane and tail, rather than the conformation of the horse. Boiselle markets whimsical horses, not breed standards. In fact, some of her students asked why the Arabians were being stood up for photos, and she had to explain, "It's how they pose in the show ring." I don't need to see that, but I don't need to see a horse twisting its neck into the moonlight for fairy tales either.
This week Boiselle posted another round of photos to facebook, and I wasn't too impressed. Another Egyptian Arabian decked out unnecessarily, tossing his head, flailing, and pawing spectacularly. He was OK but I don't care for such photos.
(All photos in this post are of this horse.)
Then they got to a photo of the horse standing still and I thought, "Wow, great legs." They look like Mag\s - with the 45 degree angled fetlocks and big joints. But this was Egypt.
The next page showed the horse's pedigree, and he was Mag's uncle.
His name is Bareeq Albadeia.
From Mag's profile on my blog, you know Laheeb, the straight Egyptian who was used in Poland for the first time in generations to improve their horses. This was his son, Mag's grandsire, being used in Egypt. Well, of course.
Mag's Egyptian side connects him with Baasha. I will not complain about this mix.
OK, students of Boiselle, do more of this - let the horse stand more or less at ease. Then we can really see him. Pink nose and all
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4 comments:
So, these picture are "art" rather than "portrait." In a portrait, you'd expect to see something that was a true (or mostly-true) representation of the subject. With art, reality is backseat to the impression the image can make upon the viewer.
It's the difference between poetry and a wikipedia entry, if you will. Neither is incorrect, but if you need the wiki, a poem will not be very helpful.
(My name is Aarene and I live with an artist." "Hi, Aarene.")
And yet, when I look at these photos, I wonder, "Can they be ridden?"
Aarene, that green background is something!
KB, interestingly, that came up in the tour video, the Germans asked, "Do those big Arab mean ride those tiny Arab horses?"
I betcha the green background is photo-neutral, so that a "beautiful" background can be 'shopped in painlessly.
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