Picture perfect: ‘For those few minutes I felt I was in the presence of something so great and special’
“My choice is a picture of Sea the Stars with John Oxx which was taken in 2009.
“The assignment had come from The Observer who needed a powerful portrait image to illustrate a big interview spread.
“Given the huge audience the paper had, this was a very important job for our agency and I was keen to do as good a job as possible.
“I have a fair bit of experience of photographing horses and the word that comes to mind when I think of thoroughbreds is ‘tricky’.
“They are generally quite young, are highly strung, and more often than not they don’t like being taken out of their day-to-day routines. So all of this was going through my head as I drove down to take the pictures.
“Horses like this are worth millions of euro and as a result I was both anxious and nervous. When taking pictures of humans it is easy to move and manipulate your subjects. The same simply doesn’t apply to an animal and moreso to a thoroughbred. As a photographer you need them (or want them) to do a certain thing and if they don’t agree then you just have to adapt and go with the flow. A lot can go wrong — and you need even more to go right.
“So I arrived down to the yard and met John. He is a lovely man, was very relaxed, methodical, and business like — but in a good way. He knew why I was there and it wasn’t an inconvenience for him. He went off to get the horse and I scouted around the yard to set up the shoot. I found a place that would work but it involved bringing Sea the Stars through the stables and out through the yard. That might sound easy and straightforward to most people but you just never know how they will react to any sudden noises or anything that is taking them out of the ordinary.
“John brought him down and what happened next is the reason why I have chosen this picture today.
“I’m not someone who reads too much into things but it felt that the horse knew exactly what was going on, why I was there and what was expected to happen.
“He looked directly at me as if to say ‘I’m ready for my close up now’ so get to work. He stood in position, tilted his head; it was almost like he gave me the picture. I am not a horsey person, but for those few minutes I felt that I was in the presence of something so great and so special. In humans you would call it charisma or an aura, whatever it was Sea the Stars had it in abundance. In terms of technique and so on it may not be the greatest picture that I have ever taken but it has had the greatest impact on me. I have never felt that with any animal — or person.
“The way he stood in the light, the way he held himself, it was almost as if he knew it was his time to perform. And to get this from one of the best racehorses of all time...
“The Observer used the picture superbly over a massive two-page broadsheet spread. Afterwards John contacted me wondering if he could get some copies as the family all thought it was such a beautiful picture. Naturally, we were only too happy to oblige.
“This photograph was just before the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and I made a point of watching the race. The manner in which Sea the Stars won just confirmed everything about him and his place amongst the greats of the sport.”
Interview: Colm O’Connor
