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March 2008 The white horses are a well known feature of the Camargue in southern France. They often appear in pictures illustrating the area, running through shallow water. However, horses do not normally spend much time charging about in muddy water or even sandy beaches. It is all set up especially for photographers.
Patrice Aguilar is the French photographer who makes all the arrangements with the local ranchers. He normally organises two shoots a year, in the spring and autumn restricting the numbers to 8 people. The shoot does not include accommodation, but Patrice can help to organise that as well as collect you from the local airport. There can be advantages in hiring a car instead as it gives you some flexibility to go out and do other thing during your stay. I was in my own car and stayed in my caravan on a local camping site, but I was there for an extended stay.
The shoot starts on Friday afternoon after meeting in the town of Les Saintes Maries de la Mer. We went first to a marshy area where a group of horses were driven through the water towards a line of photographers. We were advised to wear waders and most of us did do. This allows you to get into the muddy water in the best positions although it is possible to stay on dry land if you prefer. Chest waders would be best, but mine only came up to my hips and I was okay. The horses are very good a avoiding running into the waiting photographers, but getting wet is common enough as they run by. We got about 15 runs in before the horses were exhausted.
The following day we were taken to a private beach with acres of shallow lagoons. The public are not allowed here so there is plenty of space to run the horses. They are driven towards and past the photographers for about 90 minutes until they have no more energy. This same shoot was repeated on Sunday morning.
Saturday afternoon we went to a field where there were young fouls, who proved wary at first, but eventually we got close enough. Next we attempted to photograph fighting stallions, which did not work too well, however we got some excellent running shoots as they chased around the field. It is not the true wildlife photography I am used to, but I enjoyed myself very much. Maybe I should do one of the western cowboy horse shoots organised in the USA too. Contact Patrice at patriceaguilar@wanadoo.fr Web site www.patriceaguilar.com
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