Gareth McConnell’s cover story for the New York Times Magazine was part of a special project in which six photographers travelled the world to search for memorable encounters with animals.

For his contribution, McConnell photographed horses with the attention and artistic nuance usually reserved for a human subject. McConnell wanted to draw out the mystical nature of horses, and his unconventional use of colour takes them into another realm. The grainier, more abstract images resemble thermal imaging, while other photographs featuring beams of vivid light lend a supernatural character to the horses.

“I saw this as an opportunity to commune with our most ancient companion, one of the original subjects in art,” McConnell says. To him, the image of the horse symbolises technological progress while reminding us of “humankind’s urgent responsibility to repair its lost bond with nature”.

garethmcconnell.com