CHARLOTTE DUMAS (NL, 1977) PHO...
Charlotte Dumas (NL, 1977) photographs horses of the mounted police, sometimes with rider but usually the animal alone. The photographs have been taken in the Netherlands as well as in Italy, where she recently documented Rome’s Carabinieri a Cavallo. The fact that this series came about here, of all places, is quite telling. Like no other city in the world, Rome is imbued with the symbolism and the military tradition of the horse; one need only think of the many equestrian statues, among them the famous bronze image of Marcus Aurelius dating from the second century. For Dumas this historical dimension, the age-old relationship between man and horse, plays an important role.In her photographs she attempts to give expression to the essence of the horse which is subject to human authority. The police horses, centrally placed in their own daily surroundings (never in a studio) are immortalized in classic, tranquil poses. With this she uses only available light, as she encounters it at that moment. The action and violence seen by the animals are nowhere to be found. The tumult of battle is merely implicit, invisibly present somewhere in the background. Only the motif of the lying horse quietly attests to this. The recumbent animal (which is very vulnerable in this position) alludes to the fallen horse, the dead animal. From the photographs there emerges an image of the horse as an ageless, tragic hero.
At the same time, one can speak of a great concern and sensitivity for the distinct character of the animal. The photographs, in which the horse is often depicted in profile and from a ‘full-length’ view, can be considered portraits. Though the works officially have no titles, they often acquire the name of the horse – David, General – as an epithet. And so it is not surprising that the work of Dumas has little to do with the detached and impersonal view by which documentary or scientific photography registers the animal. The intensity of the images and the dramatic use of lights and darks sooner evoke connotations with the horses in paintings by Uccello, Delacroix and Gericault, these being a significant point of reference for her. Charlotte Dumas endeavors to look from the inside out, as it were, and to convey something of the animal’s mind. Her work thereby not only conjures forth a timeless image of the horse but also pays tribute to the individual creature.
text: Milka van der Valk Bouman
translation: Beth O'Brien