Ripley has created twelve large-scale portraits of the Household Cavalry.
The imagery features soldiers from The Life Guards and the Blues and Royals mounted on their horses and posed on buildings throughout London, overlooking the capital from Trafalgar Square to Canary Wharf.
A boxed-set of the twelve portraits was the official Coronation present from the Household Cavalry to His Majesty King Charles III. This was presented by Ripley and senior officers from the Household Cavalry to King Charles III at Buckingham Palace on June 15th 2023.
Limited edition prints range from large-scale pieces and a beautifully presented boxed-set, to smaller print editions and greeting cards.
Pictured below : Photographing background plates from the rooftop of The Lanesborough
Information
Timeline :
2012 - 2014
In 2012 Ripley was in New York photographing background plates for future work, whilst there he took a number of rooftop views and started to formulate ideas about horses being placed on top of buildings affording panoramic views over urban landscapes. ref: ‘Racehorse in Times Square, New York’ - 2012 (view).
A concept started to develop which would involve the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment portrayed as “Protectors” looking over London and living up to their moniker “Trusted Guardians”.
2015
Ripley presented his proposal to the Household Cavalry which included a brief outline of the concept and referenced his picture ‘Racehorse in an English Landscape’ - 2014 (view), as well as stills from the James Bond film ‘Skyfall’, where Bond is stood on the rooftop of The Department of Energy in Whitehall looking over the Old War Office.
2016
A conversation began about how to go about making the concept a reality and how to schedule in a fairly large photographic production in amongst the Household Cavalry’s busy calendar.
2017
Ripley completed primary photography with the Household Cavalry at Hyde Park Barracks in July.
2018 - 2019
Photography continued in London which involved photographing from elevated positions throughout the capital with kind permissions from many landmark buildings and the Royal Parks.
2020 - 2022
Ripley started work composing the final portraits, bringing all the elements together; the soldiers and horses of the Household Cavalry, cityscapes, skies, foreground architectural features and landscapes. Each composition took 200-300 hours, 6-8 weeks to complete.
2023
Public and private exhibitions to be held throughout 2023 & 2024.
