Journey’s End

Journey’s End

Limited Editions of 50.

Story Behind the Image:

“Walking in the lee of the south dunes, I heard the familiar squeal of horses interacting. I hurried towards the sound and discovered two horses. A young stallion, fat and in his prime, stood in the middle of the dry maram grass, the easterly wind buffeting his long mane and tail. Behind him on the beach stood another stallion and I went to him. This horse at one time must have been magnificent. He was tall and dark brown with a beautiful eye. Now he was nearing the end of his life and the years had taken their toll. He had lost all his muscle mass and his hips and ribs could not be disguised by his long winter coat and flowing mane. 

His walk was weak, and he measured his steps, nibbling at little bits of grass along the flood plain. His eye and his expression were still full of life, but his body was slowly disintegrating. I wondered about his relationship to the young stallion. Were they father and son? 

At first, I was too saddened to photograph him, but then I realized that this way he would have a chance to live on. I stood upon the dune with my wide-angle lens to capture the heavy skies and remote landscape that seemed ready to reclaim him. I could not tell how many days he had left, but he had made it through a brutal winter, and I hoped that the spring would be kind to him. I wished him well and continued on my way.

After I returned home, it took me several months before I could process his images, I was so moved by his place in the cycle of life. When I returned the following year, I heard from the researchers that he had passed shortly after my April 2009 visit. The photograph “Journey’s End” appeared in 2010 in Photolife Magazine where I was recognized as one of the year’s Emerging Photographers. Several years later, as my mother lay dying in the hospital, she insisted on having this image beside her and after she passed I spread her ashes on this same beach.