Time is flying and I’m currently in the process of
developing ideas for my FMP (final major project). For my dissertation I
research to into the relationship between people and their horses and the deep psychological
relationships that can develop. The horse in art dates back over 30,000 years
as some of the earliest cave paintings found in France depicts the horse. Whilst
researching for my dissertation I came across the topic of totemism, which I
found fascinating. Totemism may have been a very early form of religion where prehistoric
man placed a piece of his soul in a totem animal, this animal then became
sacred and was then worshipped.
For my FMP I thought it would be appropriate to carry on and
through photography investigate this subject further. Having been a horse owner
in the past, I have first-hand experience of how one can become so attached and
‘in tune’ to their horse. It is this partnership that I’m aiming to capture in images.
As a part of this investigation I contacted Tim Flach and had
an in-depth telephone conversation with him. If you’ve not seen Tim’s work
before, I highly recommend that you visit his website at: www.timflach.com. His work is truly
outstanding and inspiring, by discussing why the horse has been such a main
focus for his work in the past, I have a much better idea of the fundamental
reasons why he finds the horse so fascinating. Tim’s knowledge of how the horse
has become such a symbolism of ‘good’ through a multitude of cultures is
enlightening. It was also extremely interesting to discover that Tim makes
direct references between his work and those of great painters such as George
Stubbs. By gaining this information from a photographer that I admire, I realise
that even the greatest artists refer to and get ideas from each other!
A few weeks ago I had the good fortune of being able to
visit my second cousins yard and photograph her beautiful horses. This was the
first photo shoot for my FMP, and I treated it like a pre-shoot. Now that I
have finished my dissertation I hope to concentrate on editing these photos as
well as expand the ideas I have to enable me to refine my work. I have an open
invitation to go back down to this yard where I hope to experiment with these
new concepts.
Yesterday I visited another yard where I photographed about
five horses and their three owners. These images will be going on my website
soon as they make a great addition to my portfolio.
I’d just like to say a quick thank you to those that I have
photographed so far. With spring on its way, I’m due to visit other yards very
soon. If you and your horse would like to be photographed please do not
hesitate to contact me.
Laters
Michelle x
No comments:
Post a Comment