Sasha Elage doesn’t edit his technicolour portraits of horses, he “paints with light”

You could argue that horses have been unfairly typecast. In the modern imagination and in cultural reproductions they often occupy a very limited space. They’re cast as regal and sturdy, yet elegant and graceful, populating classic paintings of stiffed-lipped royalty, or clad in armour, prepped and ready for battle. And in more recent times, the Black Beauty-ifcation has only solidified this idea of the loyal beast, discerning yet powerful. But the photographer Sasha Elage is showing horses (quite literally) in a new light. In his technicolour renditions, rather than regal, the horses’ tousled manes become punk, and rather than solid and sturdy, they’re infinitely ethereal, an unearthly apparition tied to no master. In Sasha’s portraits, horses are more cool than classic.

When starting out as an artist Sasha never once considered a career in photography – he was much more inclined toward painting. It was at the age of 24 that the dramatic shift in his practice began and he finally picked up a camera, after he realised that he “had been taking pictures mentally all my life, framing the world around me without even knowing I was practising the art of photography”. Though the methods and techniques he once used to paint still very much inform his work. It might be hard to believe, but no editing whatsoever is used in Sasha’s process. “My style is deeply rooted in the philosophy of capturing magic directly through the camera, eschewing post-production edits, filters, or AI in favour of in-camera authenticity,” he says.

So how does he get such vibrant, technicolour palettes? It’s a fine balance between physically manipulating his camera – adding coloured pieces of paper in front of his flash – and making use of any available light source, a street lamp or a torch. This process allows him to “paint with light”, Sasha says, “thinking like a painter but executing like a photographer”. This thinking extends into how Sasha perceives and presents his images. One image of three horses trudging through a snowstorm, Sasha sees the similarity between the blurred snowflakes, and the “impressionist strokes of Vincent Van Gogh”. He adds: “I aimed to make the swirling snow resemble floating stars, infusing the scene with a sense of motion and ethereality.”

Alongside this artistic, analogue approach, Sasha’s work also proves that high-tech, high-end equipment doesn’t equal impressive work, he describes his tools as “basic” and mainly works with an old, non-professional camera.

Sasha’s first horse portraits go back as far as 2009, with his first foray taking place in the French Alps. Though the pivotal moment came in 2022, with Sasha’s Iceland series Magic Island. What really propelled the series was the horse owners and local communities’ reaction to the images online – they were “fascinated” by the images he was posting on Instagram, Sasha says. “[They] invited me to photograph their horses, expressing delight in seeing them represented in ways they had never seen before.” It’s this reaction and openness that Sasha puts down to the series’ success, now being sold as fine art prints across the world, and soon to be compiled in a book.

A large part of Sasha’s work is about connection; connecting with the horses he photographs, and creating work that connects emotionally with his audience. He cites one image that encapsulates this feeling, taken in North Iceland following an intense snowstorm. A horse is shown seemingly staring at Sasha, its bright red and orange body illuminated against the white of the snow. “The storm ceased as if someone had pressed the pause button, and that majestic horse appeared,” he says. “He was as fascinated by my camera and the red flash as I was by him. We shared a moment of silent connection, almost like a secret handshake.”

Sasha has many plans in the pipeline; he’s started photographing more young horses to add a new “dimension” to his work, and he’s considering expanding the series to other landscapes, like deserts. But for now, he’s happy continuing his exploration of Iceland, a place that’s become a “second home” to his one in Nice, and creating work that pleases his most passionate and loyal fanbase – the horse owners.