Robert Vavra

Robert Vavra (born in Glendale, California, March 9, 1935) is an american photographer universally acclaimed as the world's premier photographer of horses. By portraying the horse in his fresh and very personal way, he has become an icon in his own lifetime. He is the author of 37 books accounting for more than 3,000,000 volumes in print, in eight languages.

Novelist james Michener once wrote of Vavra: "Thought equus has fired the imaginations of painters from Leonardo da Vinci, Velasquez, and Goya to Picasso, still in the history of photography, no cameraman has recorded the horse with such excitement and personal style as has Robert Vavra. His images are works of ar which are a joy to see because they evoke the inner nature of the horse."

Beginning with his photographic tribute to the Spanish horse, "Equus," published in 1977, his books have been praised by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune, The Times, Newsweek and Cosmopolitan magazines, CNN, PBS, and Good Morning America.

He's has more than 100 one-man gtalleries and museum shows in America and Europe.

When Delacourt Press needs a cover shot for Nicolas Evan's novel, The Horse Whisperer, they call Vavra.

When Max Factor, Jordanche, Roche, Renault or Revlon needs an artistic horse image for an advertisement, they call Vavra.

When the Russian Republics need 24 horse photographs for postage stamp images, their choice is Vavra.

His film work includes Lawrence of Arabia and Patton....he was a creative advisor to Robert Redford during the filming of The Horse Whisperer.

James Michener chose him to illustrate his nonfiction treatise on Spain, Iberia: Spanish Travels and Reflections, more than a year on The New York Times bestseller list.

He's the author of Tiger Flower, and Lion and Blue, two books listed by The New York Times Book Review as among the top ten children's books with the most adult appeal of all time.

One of his best known horse-related projects is 'Horses of the Wind,' a music CD which includes Robert Vavra's photographs. Though mostly music, the CD includes horse 'voices;' a variety of whinnies and other horse sounds.

Jane Goodall and William Shatner have introduced his documentary film on primitve equine behavior, "Such is the True Nature of Horses," the culmination of 20 years of research.

Mr. Vavra is also known as an expert on the legacy of the Spanish fighting bull. Moving to Spain in 1958, he became immersed in the lore and life of this beast which culminated in the publishing of his book, "Bulls of Iberia", in 1972. He was a personal friend of legendary matador de toros Juan Belmonte, riding with him on horseback to check his herds of black bulls, and he shared the dreams, fears, adventures and valor of other toreros, such as the American John Fulton.

He has paid for the education of several Maasai children and financed the building of a school in Mexico, where since its constructon, more than 5,000 boys and girls have learned to read and write.

He has recently published a retrospective of his horse images, Vavra's Vision, and is currently at work on a book of profiles on African adventurers, 10 years in the making.