Lisa Cueman’s equine photography offers a close, intimate, less conventional way of seeing the horse. In the detail of the swish of a tail, the arch of a back, flanks in mid leap or a blinking eye, we see the horse in a new light. Her photographs evoke the grace of the animal and remind us of humans’ long fascination with horses. Quoting Winston Churchill, Cueman says, “There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.”
Cueman, a sixteenth-generation Bermudian now living in Vermont, experienced uncommon freedom while she was growing up on the island. A childhood full of riding, swimming, boating and fishing forged a connection to her environment that today informs her passion for equine photography. When beginning her career in photography, a mentor asked what she loved and knew, and without missing a beat her answer was horses. Her passion for her photographic subject is obvious in the way that she captures the nuances of their body language and the beauty of their form.
Cueman is currently working on a long-term project on the wild horses of the Outer Banks of North Carolina. These horses, descended from the Spanish mustangs brought by explorers to North America more than 500 years ago, are living links to the past. Given her personal island history, it is a natural fit and an environment in which she feels completely at home.
Those who would like to see more of her work can find it exhibited in The Iris Galleries in Aspen, Colorado, and Boston, Massachusetts, and at Tilting at Windmills in Manchester, Vermont. Alternatively, you can view some of the photographs on her website, www.lisacuemanphotography.com, and on Facebook and Twitter.
