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Charlotte Dumas

In November 2014 I started a project to portray the eight native horse breeds of Japan. Some of them are in such low numbers their future existence is uncertain. Only one of the breeds, the Dosanko horse, native to Hokkaido in the north of Japan, is still thriving. Most of the horse breeds are confined to small islands and have never been able to migrate. In some cases they are of importance as the symbol of their location as is the case on Yonaguni Island where the Yonaguni horse is depicted together with the world largest moth (also native to Yonaguni) and the marlin on the manhole covers of the island.
It is my intention to present individual portraits as well as a collective one unlocking something about the history of these animals in relation to the people that share their territory in each specific location. I am interested in the present role they are awarded in society and their value to those who surround them, be it symbolic or practical.

The eight native breeds:
Yonaguni pony, Yonaguni Island Okinawa prefecture;
Miyako pony, Miyakojima Okinawa prefecture; Dosanko pony, Nanae Hokkaido;
Kiso pony, Kisofukushima Nagano prefecture;
Tokara pony, Nakanoshiama island Kagoshima Prefecture;
Tsushima pony, Tsuhima island Nagasaki prefecture;
Misaki Pony, Kushima Miyazaki prefecture;
Noma Pony, Imabari Ehime prefecture.

Charlotte Dumas's approach is a way of being--present, focused, curious, open.

She uses large-format film, and working with such film and moving subjects takes exceptional mastery and impeccable instincts. Dumas improvises with timing and ever-changing light, those unknowns that travel itineraries and careful production schedules can never predict. She goes to the animals that she photographs where they are, in their territories and homes.

For the project chronicled in this book, Dumas traveled over the past two years across Japan from Yonaguni and Miyako islands to Nakanoshima in the south; to Nagano, Tsushima island, Cape Toi, and Ehime prefecture; and to Hokkaido, in the cold, far north. Each of the eight breeds of Japanese horse she found--the Yonaguni, Miyako, Tokara, Kiso, Taishu, Misaki, Noma, and Dosanko--has their own story, landscape, relationship with humans, and spirit. [...]

Dumas doesn't see horses as objects, nor use them as props to make nice pictures. She creates portraits that burn into the soul because when she is looking at the horses, they are looking back.

Stacey Clarkson James (Art Director of Harper's Magazine)