When Equus met Hermes

dangerousdanman | September 23, 2009

The play by Peter Shaffer, where a psychiatrist attempts to treat a young man who has a pathological sexual obsession with horses, is reminiscent of the work of US photographer Monica Stevenson, who uses luxury goods such as Tiffany bracelets and Hermes Scarves on and next to equines as the focus for some of her major work.

This piece called simply ‘Hermes Scarf Horse’ won Stevenson a place in the ‘Advertising photographers of America’. The piece makes you ask questions like, is the horse alive? What is tied around its ears? It makes you study the scarf in a way that you might not normally were simply presented on a model or in a Vogue or Vanity Fair centre spread.

Hermes Scarf Horse

A lot of Monica’s personal work extends to equine photography and so it was a natural progression for her to mix her work advertising for luxury brands such as Tiffany and Co, Cartier, Hermes and Gucci with her love for horses.

Gucci Logo and Stevenson

Her photographs are potent and sexy, although is there is something wrong about liking it? It feels as if Stevenson is pulling back the curtain and unveiling a taboo, daring us to keep watching.

Stevenson riding boots & stirrups

The work has almost a sadomasochistic edge to it, highlighted by the use of horse and human hair wound around Iron stirrups and leather straps.

Horse hair wound around stirrup

Stevenson’s use of insects, typically reviled in fashion is also very beautiful. She dares the observer to keep watching and in that, exposes the underbelly of each piece and holds it up for closer inspection.

Lip stick ants Monica Stevenson

What I love about her work is that it encapsulates a story in each shot, takes you into a fairytale world of Stevenson’s making, and although this world may not be a beautiful one much like the mind of Equus’s young hero, it is an intriguing one, and one that you seek to understand and return to again and again.