The Horses of Harbour Island

On my most recent trip, I had the pleasure of visiting the pink sand beaches of Harbour Island, just a short boat ride, off the coast of Eleuthera in the Bahamas. I was there for the annual "Princess Street Gallery evening of Wine and Art". I was in Harbour Island for an extended weekend and enjoyed a wonderful stay, and a great show, where I met several locals and visitors alike, all with many kind words about my work.

The next day after the show ended with a walk up the beach for me, the daily routine of gallery owner Charles, and his trusty dog bandit. Taking a break from shooting 4 x 5, black & white, I headed towards the beach with my trusty Nikon DSLR in hand, and soon found myself immersed in a different type of photo-op. We parked Charles' golf cart off to the side of the small dirt road we were on and walked a narrow path down to the beach. As we got down to the water, coming up the beach behind us were the horses of Harbour Island. It was dusk. 

I must admit it I really did not, and still do not know that much about the horses. I had seen pictures, even video of them, and had only heard very little about them. The first time I actually saw the horses, was the day before, when I arrived, and had lunch on the deck of the Coral Sands Resort. They were off to the left, thirty or forty yards up the beach, resting in a pen type area, beneath some palm tress. The next day I spent some time at the beach, and saw the horses again. They were being lead up the beach by a caretaker. They were halted and rounded up  a couple of times to take a few photos with several eager and excited tourists, in what seemed to be a very common experience. 

As the horses approached on my third encounter, on this cool evening, I dropped back and allowed the horses to catch up as I started to photograph them. They seemed very comfortable with a stranger just following them up the beach. A few times I proceeded to get if front of the horses to shoot them as they approached. As they got close, they stopped, as if I had blocked their path. They just waited to see what I was going to do, leading to more great photo opportunities.

I told Charles I would catch up, as I stayed behind, now following at the horses' pace. As the sun was now below the horizon, the light was disappearing quickly, leaving a beautiful faint pink, and blue sky as a backdrop. I knew I might get some great shots out of the moments that lay ahead, so I fired away. Needless to say, after a little editing, I was very pleased with the results.

If you would like to see more of the horses, these lovely images will be available online at www.korateo.com. Open Edition Prints of all of these images as well as many more will be available by going to my "Island Series" Gallery. I soon also hope to be producing a Limited Edition Portfolio of forty five, along with two Artists Proofs. This portfolio of a total of fourteen photographs will soon be made available online, and at all gallery locations.