Hiding behind the lens.

Practising Polocrosse. I swear all this horse action is killing me. I don’t want to be on the ground anymore, I want to be in the saddle! Grumble grumble. I haven’t looked at my shots from this moment yet, but I can’t wait as I think they’ll be spectacular – or in the very least will conjure up some warming memories every time I review them!  The moment I shot them I had a line of miniature people all lined up behind me, aged 4 and upwards.  It was a special moment.  Using me as a buffer, all you could hear were giggles and clicks: click, click, clickety-click as horses stampeded and shutters shutted.  Wonderful stuff, I think I’m spreading a disease. Horses and pictures. Beautiful.

Mmm.

Goodbye soft feminine paws, hello workers hands.  Today I noticed rough callouses appearing on my digits and I’m feeling somewhat weathered and worn and desperately in need of some pampering.  This morning’s 430am start was just another in a long, long line of ridiculous starts, complimenting my erratic routine and all that accompanies my adventurous and nomadic lifestyle that is a necessity whilst shooting for this book.  Are the physical sacrifices worth it, I ask?  Read on, and you decide.

Today I was perched on a tractor at the crack of dawn (see below) watching barrier trials at Sydney’s Rosehill Racecourse.  I was suddenly hit with the realisation of how incredibly lucky I am to be accessing all areas at so many places around the world.  Front row seats aren’t even this good.

I watched newcomers frolic cautiously to the barrier and practise their entries and exits – I gained a whole new respect for the guys involved, for it’s an understandably frightening affair for a horse to be boxed in such a way and there’s no reasoning with them if they do become afraid.  There is tension, heat, sweat, fear, excitement and power – a frenzy that the sport of racing would not flourish without; but still, one that takes acclimatizing to.

So, my initial question about whether or not all the physical ‘benefits’ of my work are worth it…. I hope you agree with me that they most certainly are.  

Perching precariously.

Calming a novice in the start barrier.

Going, going…

…gone.

Ready to train.

Gai deep in thought.

Fresh off the track.

It is 9am, Sunday 2nd January 2011, and I sit in Room Nine cafe close to Oxford Street, downtown Sydney, downloading pictures and swigging flat whites like they’re going out of fashion. It’s a grey day, but not really a ‘grey’ day. We have been up for five hours and trackside for two of those, watching in admiration as the incredibly gifted Gai Waterhouse organises the morning’s training session at Randwick Park, Sydney. It was incredible to watch. There was a silent energy in the air, almost like when you stand under electricity pylons and you hear and feel that electrifyingly magnetic buzz.  Zap.  We watched Gai’s beady eyes sizing up each and every magnificent creature that appeared before us. Fresh and alert, some more ready to go than others, perhaps too much so, but still, all very controlled and carefully managed.

As for my photos…well, they’re nothing special, I was more happy to be there in the presence of such a well-respected trainer, than I was worried about getting great shots, for some reason. I couldn’t get close enough to the running horses for fear of spooking them, and so I resigned myself to the fact I was there to observe, document and be witness to the special occasion I was a part of.  A special occasion that Gai drives six mornings each and every week.  Gai has a sparkle in her eye and a gleam in her smile and is as professional as they come…I was taking notes.

So after seeing the live action from the track on New Year’s Day, to being a voyeur on the very same track whilst these intelligent and athletic animals are put through their paces, I feel I have had the perfect combination of action with these Australian Thoroughbreds.

En route to the start post.

What a way to spend the day… New Year’s Day in the glorious sunshine in Sydney at the races. In the paddock, trackside, sun beating down, horses’ coats gleaming.  We hung out with the other track photographers who were totally intrigued as to why there was an unfamiliar English girl in cowboy boots lingering with her long lens over the fences, asking questions that would indicate she wasn’t at all familiar with the track, let alone the City.
 
Then we found the Press Room, a vibrant buzz of global communication.  Pictures and words being created and put together in a juxtaposition that could tell the world what was happening there – right there, right then.  It’s all so immediate and quick and futuristic – technological developments that allow such immense amounts of data to be sped so incomprehensibly to all corners of the world.  I still don’t understand why that astounds me but it continually does! 

So now I sit sipping coffees from today’s ‘office’…differing from yesterday’s office and tomorrow’s office – even this afternoon’s office….and marvel at how liberated all this makes me feel.