DUESSELDORF, Germany (AP) — Martin Meissner has worked for AP for more than 25 years in Germany. He is based between Duesseldorf and Dortmund in the Industrial Ruhr Valley in North Rhine-Westphalia, about 40 kilometers from the Munsterland countryside where he photographed the wild horses.
Here’s what he had to say about this extraordinary photo.
Why this photo?
Once a year this last flock of wild horses in Germany is driven into a countryside arena, to separate the young stallions from the herd. Because the place for those 400 wild horses is limited to around 400 hectares, taking out the stallions prevents territorial fights and inbreeding of the herd, which has historically been documented for centuries in that region. The young stallions are then sold to horse lovers after the catch who tame them to working horses.
How I made this photo
I shot this image from a higher position, during the arrival of the herd for the horse catch. Using a Sony Alpha 1 Mark 2 and a 300mm lens at aperture f/5.6 and a fast 1/2000-second exposure time.
Why this photo works
The frame is full of running horses from the front to the back. Their streaming manes give the image a dynamic touch. I think it is also emotional to see those wild powerful creatures near our normal human-controlled environment, we call civilization.
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