MELAINA BALBO PHIPPS
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Web site copyright 2011 by Melaina Balbo Phipps
Photo of Zenaytta by Robert Maxwell for W magazine. http://bit.ly/qTOQA1
Worth a Thousand Words . . .
The November 2010 issue of my favored W magazine had a photo of one of the Kardashian sisters (I'm not sure which and it doesn't really matter) on the cover, naked but for a few banners of text artfully placed by the cover designer. When it arrived in my mailbox I cringed, thinking of how it ruined the issue for me. Every month I look forward to the magazine and the way that it defines style and culture--both confirming the classics and christening the contemporary. Now I'd just have that tacky cover image on my mind . . . ugh.
After a few days of keeping it face down on the coffee table, I picked it up and began reading it reverse, starting from the last page and working my way back to page one. All at once, the issue was redeemed. Robert Maxwell's portrait of Zenyatta, and the accompanying profile written by Steve Haskin, were enough to forgive the unfortunate cover choice.
My involvement with the horse racing industry, however small, made recognizing the champion easy, and I was all to familiar with the phenomenon of Zenyatta. But it was the portrait. The photograph, beyond representing the great race horse, did something else: it incorporated the things that I am most passionate about in one iconic image.
Looking in the eye of one of the greatest race horses of all time I am reminded of a sport that fascinates me, an animal that seduces me, and all the potential that people have to do great--and good--things. It reminds me of sportsmanship, of art, of grace, of beauty, and of a lifetime of storytelling. These are the things that fill my life and propel my work. Achieving even a fraction of the ideals captured in this image would make any life a success.
