Every now and then, The Creators Project comes across an artwork that surprises and delights us—every bit as much as it totally confuses us and otherwise has us begging for answers. This is art that defies conventions, challenges sensibilities, and breaks the walls down between around both critique and understanding. You might like it—you might not “get it.” But we do. Turn on, take a deep breath, and just remember: it’s art!
This article was originally published on November 21, 2014 but we think it still rocks!
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After honing his skills as an editorial photographer in Chicago for 30 years, Kevin Horan moved Whidbey Island, Washington and was inspired by models of a different breed—goats, rams, and sheep. “What would it look like if these creatures came into the studio and asked to have their portraits made?” he asked. The answer comes in the form of Chattel, a 32-image series of black-and-white portraits of livestock. According to PetaPixel, Horan’s driven as many as two hours to capture the subjects he calls his “ungulate neighbors.”
Horan explains, “For me, this project is a study in portraiture itself. It’s so interesting that these goats and sheep appear to have such strong personalities, emphasis on ‘appear.’ I still wonder how much is in there, and how much is applied through the way they’re photographed, and the way we’re used to looking at photographs. I’ve made countless portraits of humans, and I wonder the same thing about them.”
Kevin Horan, Honey #2
Kevin Horan, Sydney #3
Explore more images from the Chattel series here, and click here to visit Kevin Horan’s website.
h/t PetaPixel
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