Photographer creates 3,000 square foot backdrop to capture stunning pictures of horses in all their glory
By Rob Preece
Read the original article on the Daily Mail UK
Strong and muscular but graceful when they move, horses have inspired artists and writers for centuries.
But these pictures show the animals as you've probably never imagined them before - posing for portraits in a professional photographer's studio.
And this isn't any ordinary studio - it's a 3,000 square foot backdrop and stage which the photographer, Lindsay Robertson, takes to stables in the back of his Transit van.
Mr Robertson, 58, from Edinburgh, designed the studio himself and revealed that it cost him a 'five-figure' sum to create.
To make the backdrop, he had to buy two enormous rolls of muslin before sewing them together in the only space he could find that was large enough - a railway station car park.
He then spent a month painting the muslin and rigged up a system of poles to raise it to a right angle. Next he built the 700 square foot stage upon which the horses stand for their portraits.
Mr Robertson came up with the plan because he wanted to take pictures that highlighted the statuesque quality of the animals.
He said: 'It was an idea I had some years ago and then I was talking to someone about it and he said that he had some horses and I was welcome to go and try.
'I realised that I needed specialist equipment because no one has done this before. 'For a background I bought two huge rolls of muslin and sewed them together in a railway station car park, which was the only place I found that was big enough.
'I then spent a month painting it using mops and sponges so it is a black/grey colour.
'I also needed to custom-make a stand so I could raise it up, and this involved some 25 feet high poles.'
Mr Robertson takes his studio on the road to photograph the horses where they are kept.
After managing to persuade the horses into the mobile outdoor studio, Mr Robertson lights up the stage and takes his pictures.
'Everything had to be able to be carried about because I couldn’t expect horse owners to bring their animals here,' he said.
'So it all fits into a van and I drive to where ever the horses are. It was a huge investment of time and money but I’ve been doing it now for two years.
'The horses are surprisingly well-behaved and the owners obviously help to get them in the right place.
'Horses are majestic animals with a kind of aura and I wanted to capture the statuesque nature of them.'
Mr Robertson's enterprise has certainly proved to be worth the effort - prices for his pictures start at £1,000 and he takes commissions from horse-owners.
