Look at the Horses: an editorial photoshoot in Yorkshire
A long term personal project, these editorial photoshoots look at the build-up surrounding the horse racing at York Racecourse in North Yorkshire. Far away from the excitement of the stands and the finish line – the seemingly mild, casual and boring bits.
I’ve spent the last six years exploring this area – these images are taken from a much larger body of work which I intend to build into a book (having already made a mini photobook / zine).
The photoshoot brief
The aim of Look at the Horses was to bring a different behind-the-scenes perspective to horse racing photography. Often the spotlight is on the spectacle of the crowds, or the finish. I concentrated on quiet moments which could be easily overlooked.
Location
York Racecourse is one of the largest in Yorkshire, and the fifth largest in the UK. A prestigious venue, it is known as the “Ascot of the North” (although I’ve never heard anyone actually say this). It’s in the south west side of the city next to the old Terry’s factory. Handily for this project, I also lived about 300 metres away for over ten years.
As it’s public land, the racecourse itself has open access to the riders, the horses and the people that surround them - letting the public get up close. It’s not unusual to see schoolkids waiting to cross the course gates while all the horses and jockeys are getting lined up in the starting gates.
Seasonality
Most of this editorial project centres around the edges of York Racecourse’s bigger events like:
Dante Festival in May
John Smith’s Cup in July
Ebor Festival in late August
The John Smith’s Cup and Ebor Festival races are the biggest by crowd size and money changing hands. However, I’ve found that the later and bit quieter autumn races in September and October have better light and crowd at the starting gates.
UK weather-wise, it's important to be prepared for any eventuality. The Knavesmire itself can become an actual lake after heavy rains but luckily that tends to be in the off season. It can also be blazingly hot in the middle of July and quite easy to get sunburnt if you’re not looking. I always bring a jacket, plenty of drinks and snacks just in case. In the case that it really tipped it down or the light was just really flat looking, I could always scuttle home round the corner for a break.
Timeline of a race day photoshoot
Most race days don’t start until about 1.30pm to 2pm so there’s plenty of time to have a lunch and a sit down beforehand.
As I’m not working within the main racecourse, I spend most of my time wandering round the outside of the circular course. You can get round via footpaths and a system of gates that make sure no-one is on the track while there’s a race on. The middle of the track is also crossable but you sometimes have to bear in mind horses wandering about and keep half an eye on vehicles and helicopters.
I walk between the starting gates between races to get set up for the next one. The jockeys and their horses don’t usually get to the gates until a couple of minutes before the start. They have a jog up to the gates and have a little trot in circles to get the horses acclimatised and ready. I find this is the best time to get little details and portraits taken. Then they get fed into the gates, off they go and I’m pretty much done. Repeat this until the day is over or I get bored. Occasionally I’ll get the odd text from a friend to say they’ve spotted me on the racing telly channel.
