Here is the first installment of our Photo Story series with Jill Greenberg, where the photographer recalls the backstory behind her photo and provides us with a glimpse of what it was like shooting Horses.

“This image was shot on location at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center. We set up a huge white silk and a wood floor. This horse is a massive Fresian stallion named Hielke. I discovered Fresians when i started the book project. They are amazing Dutch horses with shiny black hair and crimped manes. Because Hielke is a stallion we could not take him off his lead. This was my first shoot for the book and I had not figured out all the logistics. In subsequent shoots I set up in rings so there would be an enclosure in case the horses decided to run.

As I was shooting him I observed how long and thick and muscular his neck was so I asked his trainer to encourage him to extend his neck and drop his head. I loved that it looked just like a penis. Our nickname for this horse in my studio is “Cock Horse”. - Jill Greenberg