We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tony Bonanno a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Tony, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

PROJECT – The book “HORSE OF THE SEA”, published in December, 2023, Hardback, 72 photographs, 132 pages, text in French and English …

I’ve photographed horses for many years, both for my own fine art
portfolio and for clients. Equine photography has been one of my specialties.

A brisk April day in 2015. My colleague, photojournalist Jodie Willard, and
I are in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, France, on the Mediterranean coast, in
the heart of the Rhone Delta. The area is also known as the Camargue
Delta. We are there to photograph the Camargue horses and the gardians (NO “U”, French for the “keepers” of the horses).

The Camargue horse is considered a primitive breed and probably evolved
in the Camargue Delta over thousands of years. Most Camargue horses are
semi-feral. They live in small groups on large expanses of land managed by
the gardians and their herders. They spend much of their life in wetlands and marshy environments.
They are often called the “Horse of the Sea”.

Today’s Camargue horse probably wouldn’t exist without the gardians, and
the more I learned about the gardians, the more fascinated I became. It is a
unique lifestyle that has existed since the 16th century. For generations, the
gardians have worn the same kind of hats and vests, managed their herds
with trident tipped staffs, used the same type of saddle and caged stirrups,
and lived in thatched roof homes. But for how much longer? I can sense
that increasing tourism and changes to the economy are having an impact.
I wanted to document as much as I could with my cameras.

After my second trip to France to photograph the gardians and the Camargue horses, I knew I wanted to tell the story of the culture and this ancient breed of horse. How to reach an audience? Although I had never published a fine art photo essay book, I knew that is what I wanted to.

Creating the book was an adventure which consumed a lot of time and expense over a three year period. I wanted it to be a high quality publication involving the best paper. binding, reproduction, design and layout, hardback, end-sheets, laminated dust cover, etc. I made several wrong turns along the way. I did a lot of research and attempted to find a publisher that would help with the costs. A couple of “possibles” turned out to be disappointing. Eventually I decided to bear the cost and self publish. The book went to press in December, 2023. Preparing the final draft required the efforts of three designers, a creative consultant and production manager, numerous draft reviews by various respected colleagues, working with a talented translator to put the English text into French (while keeping the feeling and passion), going on press to dial in the quality of the images, meeting with potential vendors, and the list goes on … and on.

At the time of this writing, I’m pleased to report that the book has received an excellent reception. Book reviews, articles, book-signings, sales, etc. have exceeded my expectations. My big challenge now is getting the book marketed and visible in France, where the subject matter is located.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Building a visible presence for my photography business has primarily involved person to person networking through professional organizations, social media, and websites. I can’t over-emphasize the importance of putting yourself out there …. making yourself visible. If you have a high end event photography business, then you should have a website for your event work. If you are showing work in galleries, then a website on specific portfolios (for example, www.camarguehorses.com, www.hoovesanddust.com, www.cubafotografo.com, etc.). Social media such as Facebook, Instagram, etc. may be an effective tool to educate people about your business and your activities, but keep it focused.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

For about 12 years, I was professionally photographing high end corporate events for major corporations. I traveled the globe for big corporations (think Johnson & Johnson, Schott Glass, Omega Watch, etc). Then one day, I realized that I had not taken a photograph “for myself” in almost 5 years. And that realization was disturbing. So I made a decision to do a personal photo project for myself, simply as a creative exercise. I found myself on a ranch in Oregon photographing cowboys and quarter horses. I knew that there was plenty of cowboy and horse photos out there, but I didn’t care. This exercise was just for me, no commercial goals. It never occurred to me how that “horse shoot’ would change my life. The “Hooves and Dust” portfolio took a life of its own. The next think I know I’m showing the work in galleries in the US and abroad. Then commercial clients show up wanting to license images. And starting in 2015, I find myself conducting workshops about the Camargue horses in France. And now the new book.!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bonannophoto.com, www.camarguehorses.com, www.cubafotografo.com, www.santafeevents.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tony.bonanno.790

Image Credits
Tony Bonanno Felicity Broennan