The mane attraction

Below: Cascade, one of Jones’ limited-edition fine-art prints

Carys Jones has always loved riding and photography. She explains how she combined her very different passions to create equestrian fine art

Words by Alex Moore

Above: in Reflections of the Camargue, expanses of sky ‘obliterate’ the background

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For most of her life, Carys Jones’ two great passions coexisted, but never coincided. She took up riding and photography at an early age – later becoming an accomplished showjumper and photographer – but never found the opportunity, or indeed the inclination, to marry the two. That is, until 2012, when Jones was asked to capture a series of portraits of horses and their owners, a commission she enjoyed, but admits felt slightly restrictive.

“From that point on I could see the possibilities of shooting horses, but I was keen to really develop my own style,” says the Surrey-based photographer. “With my limited-edition fine art prints, I suppose I’ve become more and more abstract over the years.”

Jones has developed two strands of equine photography: the more literal “horses in their purest sense”, and the more figurative “painting with my camera”. For the former, she concerns herself more with the environment, opting to shoot in snowy conditions or beneath expanses of sky that “obliterate” the background. For the latter, she experiments with slow shutter speeds, intentional camera movements and multiple exposures.

Such requirements have led Jones to some of Europe’s more inhospitable landscapes. In the Outer Hebrides she went in pursuit of the Eriskay pony, an ancient breed that is critically endangered, with fewer than 400 left in the wild. “Still, they’re everywhere,” she says. “They’re all over town in the winter, and up in the hills during the summer. You’d think they were wild, but actually there is human intervention [on the Isle of Eriskay] to maintain their wellbeing.”

Jones says she is drawn to shooting horses in their native environment, where they can “exhibit their natural habits and characteristics”. She adds: “A herd will have its own pecking order, so it’s interesting to see how the young horses are knocked into shape by the older ones. And it’s wonderful to see mutual grooming – quite often, it’s literally a case of ‘You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours’.”

For the most part, however, she is keen to portray some of the hardships and challenges these noble beasts endure. “They survive bitterly cold winters without any form of shelter,” she says. “So I try to get a sense of those extreme conditions. I really admire their resilience.”

It’s a similar story in Iceland, except that there are 85,000 horses to 350,000 people. Icelandic horses are popular around the world because they are one of the few breeds with five gaits. Most horses walk, trot, canter and gallop, but Icelandic ponies can also tölt – a gait that, according to Jones, is so smooth, “you could drink a pint of beer while riding”.

Not that it makes photographing them any easier. Capturing images of these semi-wild horses is problematic, largely because they are extremely inquisitive. “They’ve never had any reason to fear humans, so they’re easy to approach,” says Jones. “But that makes it difficult to create any distance – they’re always sniffing around your rucksack, looking for food. They’re usually very friendly creatures.”