Michael Korda - Editor in Chief, Simon & Schuster, Inc.
"Heart of the Horse is very beautiful."

Joyce Carol Oates - Award winning author.
"A beautiful book! Vivid - dreamlike - "mystical" - visceral."

Rhonda Hart Poe - Editor & co-publisher, The Gaited Horse Magazine, December 2004.
"Nothing is posed or staged. Some of the images are heart-warming, some incredibly delicate, some troubling. All are striking."

Linda Kohanov - Author of The Tao of Equus
"The rarest of all photographers, one who captures the Spirit of the Horse and the Heart of authentic emotion"

Bernhard Starkmann - Founder and CEO Starkmann Limited, art collector and Tate Gallery Trustee.
"A wonderful publication...unique among the equine literature I know...presenting this most beautiful animal in an entirely new light."

From the Publisher
Juliet van Otteren's expressive portraits convey the power and elemental majesty of horses in a way we've never seen before, portraying these complex beings in their infinite subtleties of mood. Regaliz, a magnificent black stallion, frankly assesses the camera; Uther, an Andalusian, adopts a pensive air; Senta and Manrico, a pair of siblings, cavort together, as the exuberant young of nearly all species do--in her images van Otteren explores the full scope of equine emotions. One study after another captures the profound relationships among these horses and illuminates their rich inner lives. More abstract images urge us to consider the beauty of detail: mane on silky mane, a dark, sloping neck against a salt-and-pepper one, the voluptuous curve of a belly, a black eye floating above the suggestion of a cheekbone. In these photographs, shape, texture, light, and shadow distill the essence of the horse, encompassing more than the whole in its fraction. Essays by best-selling novelist and physicist Alan Lightman contemplate the special bond humans and horses share, and indeed extend that bond to all creatures. His deeply personal insights into our relationships with animals, whether the family pet or a wild bird, accent the indefinable but certain link we have with other sentient beings. He also addresses questions of perception inherent in van Otteren's photographs: whether motion can be frozen in time, how a particular set of lines and shadings might be construed as filaments of a horse tail or as the branching of frost crystals or the tributaries of a river. For lovers of horses and all those who appreciate fine art photography, Heart of the Horse celebrates this most charismatic of animals in unforgettable black and white images and thoughtful prose.

About the Author
Juliet van Otteren's first passion were dance and riding her horses bareback across the countryside. As an adult she studied various philosophical disciplines and lived for a number of years in the Middle East and the Himalayas, where she first explored portrait photography. During the 80’s Juliet worked in Manhattan as a photographer, but seeking a more peaceful environment to pursue her artwork, chose in 1989 to move to the English countryside. Almost as soon as she arrived, the National Portrait Gallery in London began to acquire her work and within a year Juliet created precedent law by becoming the first photographer ever to be granted an artist's working visa to the U.K. For the next ten years Juliet created her art in England and in France, finally returning to live in the USA in the late 90’s. Today Juliet continues to travel the world creating unique images that are housed in the collections of major museums on three continents. Juliet’s photography book, "Heart of the Horse", was published by Barnes and Noble in 2004. She is currently working on two other books "The Art of Being Dog", scheduled for September 2005 and "Portraits of Writers", authors of books, screenplays, plays and songs, scheduled for 2006. Selected Museum Collections La Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris The Brooklyn Museum of Art, NY The High Museum, Atlanta, Georgia The International Center of Photography, NYC Le Musée d'Art Moderne et d'Art Contemporain de Nice, France The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC The National Portrait Gallery, London, UK The National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, Australia The Santa Barbara Museum of Art, CA The National Arts Club, NYC The Museum of the City of New York, NYC

SYNOPSIS

Juliet van Otteren's expressive portraits convey the power and elemental majesty of horses in a way we've never seen before, portraying these complex beings in their infinite subtleties of mood. Regaliz, a magnificent black stallion, frankly assesses the camera; Uther, an Andalusian, adopts a pensive air; Senta and Manrico, a pair of siblings, cavort together, as the exuberant young of nearly all species do--in her images van Otteren explores the full scope of equine emotions. One study after another captures the profound relationships among these horses and illuminates their rich inner lives.

More abstract images urge us to consider the beauty of detail: mane on silky mane, a dark, sloping neck against a salt-and-pepper one, the voluptuous curve of a belly, a black eye floating above the suggestion of a cheekbone. In these photographs, shape, texture, light, and shadow distill the essence of the horse, encompassing more than the whole in its fraction.

Essays by best-selling novelist and physicist Alan Lightman contemplate the special bond humans and horses share, and indeed extend that bond to all creatures. His deeply personal insights into our relationships with animals, whether the family pet or a wild bird, accent the indefinable but certain link we have with other sentient beings. He also addresses questions of perception inherent in van Otteren's photographs: whether motion can be frozen in time, how a particular set of lines and shadings might be construed as filaments of a horse tail or as the branching of frost crystals or the tributaries of a river.

For lovers of horses and all those who appreciate fine art photography, Heart of the Horse celebrates this most charismatic of animals in unforgettable black and white images and thoughtful prose.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

"The rarest of all photographers, one who captures the Spirit of the Horse and the Heart of authentic emotion." — Linda Kohanov, Author of The Tao of Equus, speaker, riding instructor and horse trainer.

Heart of the Horse is a very beautiful book. — Michael Korda

This book explores the moods and emotions of horses....Some of the images are heartwarming, some incredibly delicate--some troubling. All are striking. (Co-Publisher and Editor, The Gaited Horse magazine) — Rhonda Hart Poe

Heart of the Horse, a wonderful publication....unique among the equine literature I know. Congratulations on presenting this most beautiful animal in an entirely new light. (founder and CEO Starkmann Limited, art collector and Tate Gallery (London) Trustee) — Bernard Starkmann

Indeed, I can see the very souls in the eyes of some of the individuals she has photographed. — Jane Goodall