There is an undeniable sweetness in a young animal, and it is very easy for that sweetness to lead us into sentimentality. I was conscious of that as I watched this little foal.
For a brief moment I managed to photograph it on its own, although its mother was just outside the frame. It stood quietly, seemingly absorbed in its surroundings, while I watched from a distance.
What stayed with me was the fleeting nature of the moment. The foal was still very young, still dependent on its mother, and yet already beginning to experience the world on its own. She was just beyond the edge of the image — unseen, but very much present.
Perhaps that is what I wanted to hold onto: not the sentimentality of a baby animal, but the briefness of this particular moment of its life.
