It is with a heavy heart that I write these lines – completely surprising our colleague and photographer Erwin Escher has passed away. I still cannot comprehend, that the next shows will be without him, without his grin, without his humor, without his sometimes snappy comments about the horses in the ring.
Born in 1959, he loved horses even as a boy of 10 years old. At one time, it was the Arabian horse that fascinated him, and at the age of 16, he bought his first Arabian. Of course, sooner or later he took photos of his horse – which was the beginning of his photographers career. In the meantime, he had horses of about all breeds in front of his lenses, but his biggest love was the Arabian horse, for him, the most beautiful of all horse breeds. Immortalized on postcards, in books and pamphlets, and in the last few years also on the internet – the “Escher”-Signature is known all over the world.
In the 1980ies he met his wife Annette, who shared his love for the Arabian horse. And while both were riding Arabians before, they now decided to breed them as well. It became their common passion! What first began on a small scale, soon was growing steadily when they moved to their new home at Rothenberg Stud near Monheim, Bavaria. Today, there is half a dozen stallions at stud, and a good number of mares – all Egyptian and most of them black.
Over the last few years, Erwin was mostly seen at the big events in the Middle East, but there was no All Nations Cup, no World Championships without Erwin in the ring taking photos. As an “Arabian horse photographer” he was an institution, he was a craftsman in the best sense of the word. Maybe his photos were not so artistic as those of some of his colleagues – and each is entitled to his own style – but his photos show the horse as it is. His archive comprises several hundred thousands of photos and spans a working life of over 30 years. He was always on the move, always on the move in terms of horses, in Wels he was in the ring, in Berlin today, he was meant to be – it did not happen anymore… His passion has now taken its toll. Our condolences go especially to his wife Annette.
Gudrun Waiditschka
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May 14 2016
