The Devils
Photographer Constance Jaeggi spent lockdown with horses and stunt men and women in UK. Using photography as a tool to reconnect during a challenging time, she documents a hidden world, far away from Hollywood and Blockbuster movies.
Photography Constance Jaeggi
Camilla Naprous, second generation horse-master, working with the Andalusian stallion named Cal.
Shortly after moving to the UK, the country went into a series of strict nationwide lockdowns. As a result, I spent this time cloistered at the Devil's Horsemen, a leading supplier of horses and stunt men and women in the film industry. For a period, new to the country and restricted in movement, I used my film cameras to get closer to the staff who were also locked down at the farm, documenting their daily routines and the essential work they were performing as they cared for the horses and continued training in anticipation of the reopening.
Camilla and her father, Gerard who founded the company in the 1980’s, preparing for a morning drive.
Groom and driving reins for a team of seven horses.
From very different walks of life, the people at the Devil's Horsemen are brought together by their love for horses and their determination to make a life for themselves in which horses play a central role. Camilla Naprous, a second-generation horse master, leads the company. Far from the glamour of Hollywood, this project pulls back the curtain on a fascinating way of life – a mix between the intimacy and arduous labor where the relationship between horses and humans stands at the center.
The project is also an intimate personal diary. I used photography as a way to ground myself and find purpose and along the way it became a sort of meditative experience. The result is an an inward-looking collection of work where the emotions and moods I was experiencing during this strange time are assembled and recorded.
Stunt riders, Karis McCabe and Colette McEntire performing a star and a shoulder stand.
Stunt rider, Karis McCabe performing ‘The Dive’ with her mount, Tenpy.
Smoke break.
“The project is also an intimate personal diary. I used photography as a way to ground myself and find purpose and along the way it became a sort of meditative experience.”
Horse walker on a foggy morning.
“Far from the glamour of Hollywood, this project pulls back the curtain on a fascinating way of life.”
Ethereal moments of movement and stillness with Vendeval, the Lusitano stallion.
Liberty work and shifting power dynamics between Camilla and Cal.
About Constance
Constance was born in Switzerland and is currently sharing her time between Texas and the UK. Her journey with photography started in 2013, after earning a bachelor’s degree from TCU. Since then she completed a short course in Photography at the New York Film Academy and a Masters in Art History and Art World Practice at Christie’s in 2021.
Her first project: "Aspects of Power, Light and Motion" was subject of a solo exhibition at the Anne Marion gallery in the National Cowgirl Museum in Fort Worth, Texas in 2017 as well as a solo exhibition at the Old Post Office Museum and Art Center in Granbury, TX in 2018.
“The Devils” is subject of an ongoing solo exhibition at the Cowgirl Museum in Fort Worth, TX October 21st – February 6th 2022 and upcoming exhibitions at the Lehmann Maupin x Carpenters Workshop Gallery in Aspen and Daulang Art in Seoul, South Korea in 2022.
To see more of her work, visit her website or follow her on Instagram
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