Justice
An 'Experimental Western' Captures Philadelphia's Riding Culture
A look at the work of French-Algerian artist Mohamed Bourouissa, including his 2013 film, Horse Day.
Mohamed Bourouissa first learned about the rich history and visual potential of the Fletcher Street Stables, an African American riding club in northern Philadelphia, through the work of fellow photographer Martha Camarillo. Camarillo’s images, published in a 2006 book, Fletcher Street, stay etched in the mind long after a first encounter.
The photos depict striking and initially incongruent scenes of horses and riders in a decidedly urban landscape. “She had done beautiful portraits of the riders and I was impressed,” Bourouissa said on a recent morning during a visit to his studio in Gennevilliers, a commune in the northwest suburbs of Paris.