Fascinated by the natural beauty of horses, Katarzyna Okrzesik-Miko ajek has been sharing her life between traveling and photography for almost 15 years. Her new book, ‘PERCEPTION - The Horse’s Infinite Beauty’, takes readers on a journey through her development as a photographer, showing the places and horses that touched her soul the deepest.
CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR JOURNEY AS AN EQUINE PHOTOGRAPHER? HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN THIS FIELD AND WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO SPECIALIZE IN PHOTOGRAPHING HORSES?
I had a fascination with horses from an early age. Even though no one in my family had horses and I had no contact with them, for as long as I can remember I have been collecting everything that contained visions of a beautiful horse. Horse riding was not an option that interested me. It was only at the age of 16-17 that I reached for my first analog camera, which turned out to be the key missing element of the puzzle. It was the desire to capture the beauty of horses that became my goal, and the camera became my link with their world, through which I get to know and study them to this day. I never took any study on photography. The skill of photography itself is the result of many years of learning through persistent practice, because I am self-taught.
YOUR NEW BOOK, PERCEPTION, EXPLORES A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE ON EQUINE PHOTOGRAPHY. COULD YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT THE CONCEPT BEHIND YOUR BOOK AND WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO CAPTURE HORSES IN THIS WAY?
Perception – The Horse’s Infinite Beauty was created as a summary of my fifteen years of devoting myself to equine photography and traveling around the world to capture my visions related to them. As the title itself reveals, the book takes the recipient on a journey which is showing how I perceived them at particular stages of my improvement as a photographer and what a great influence horses and photography had on my personal development.
WHAT CHALLENGES DID YOU FACE WHILE WORKING ON PERCEPTION, AND HOW DID YOU OVERCOME THEM? WERE THERE ANY SPECIAL TECHNIQUES OR EQUIPMENT YOU USED TO ACHIEVE THE DESIRED RESULTS?
Over the course of years of working as a dedicated equine photographer, I have learned, above all, to get out of my comfort zone. In many fields. The desire to capture many of these frames required me to travel to many distant places of the world and the courage to often go into the unknown, which later awakened in me a great passion for full-time travel. One of the biggest technical difficulties that I often face are climate and weather. Many difficult conditions have taught me one lesson, which I repeat to all horse photography students – there is no bad weather, you just need to know how to deal with it and then how to get the best of it. Many of my best and award-winning photographs were taken in rain, heavy fog, or deep snow during sessions at temperatures below -25 degrees Celsius.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR APPROACH TO CAPTURING THE ESSENCE AND SPIRIT OF HORSES IN YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS? WHAT ELEMENTS DO YOU FOCUS ON TO TRULY CONVEY THEIR BEAUTY AND MAJESTY?
Even though we create a scenario before each photo session and guide people on how to work with the horses to bring us closer to our goal, at the end the horses have the last word. I like to give them space and let them propose something from themselves – sometimes it is a look in a completely different direction, sometimes a move in a completely unplanned direction, sometimes a step away from us to focus on something else. Very often, giving them freedom of their own expression makes what they propose much better than what I planned. Once I am patient, I will be rewarded with the best performance.
YOUR WORK OFTEN SHOWCASES THE NATURAL BEAUTY OF HORSES IN VARIOUS SETTINGS. WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE LOCATIONS OR ENVIRONMENTS TO PHOTOGRAPH THESE MAGNIFICENT CREATURES, AND WHY?
I love photographing horses with mountains in the background or in water splashing under their hooves. In the morning light that flows through their manes or in the setting sun that beautifully paints their muscles. However, I love it most when they are surrounded by dust, fog or snow. These elements allow me to transport my audience to a dreamier world. These phenomena also provide a very strong visual experience because they can silence what is unnecessarily distracting, sometimes cover the entire surrounding world to focus only on what is important – the beauty and emotions of our hero.
WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR ASPIRING EQUINE PHOTOGRAPHERS WHO WANT TO CAPTURE THE SPIRIT OF HORSES IN THEIR WORK? ARE THERE ANY KEY TIPS OR INSIGHTS YOU COULD SHARE BASED ON YOUR OWN EXPERIENCES IN THIS FIELD?
The only advice I can give is what I would have liked to have heard myself when I was starting out – get out of your comfort zone! Practice especially what you know is most difficult for you. If you lack competence in a given topic, try to learn and work through it even more. Moreover, remember that only by overcoming what is least convenient for us will help us truly develop and constantly increase our improvement.
