Discover Horses [Jun. 26, 2006]
Hockensmith's photographs pay tribute to the beauty of the Gypsy horses. Gracing the Kenton Gallery June 17 through September 10 is Gypsy Horses and the Travelers Way: The Road to Appleby Fair, photographs by John S. Hockensmith of Georgetown, Kentucky. "It's easy to overlook a local photographer," says International Museum of the Horse Director Bill Cooke, "but Hockensmith's images are so good that it's going to be one of our most exciting exhibits this year. The images are wonderful, one of the best treatments I've ever seen of Gypsies and their horses. He had a pretty amazing experience, being accepted by the Gypsies and allowed to travel with them."
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Driving Digest (March/April 2006) [Mar. 26, 2006]
In 2004, equine photographer and artist John Hockensmith followed his
heart. It took him to Appleby Fair, England, where he documented in
stunning imagery a hidden world known to only a few. They were the
gypsies. John Hockensmith was the gadje, which in ancient Gypsy
language means anyone who is not a gypsy. For ten days in June, he and
his camera traveled within their world—living in a wagon, riding beside
a true Romani Gypsy who would hand him the reins making him one of
only a few gadjes to drive a gypsy wagon into the streets of Appleby.
He left with an astonishing experience that changed his life—with
photographs, stories, poems, and raw emotion that moved him to live
his own life unrestrained. What resulted was a work of extraordinary
beauty and insight entitled Gypsy Horses and the Travelers' Way.
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