Las Luminarias: Headless Horseman

The festival has a raw, spiritual and timeless power to it unlike anything I've ever experienced. The combination of dense smoke, intense flames and sparse streetlights led to some surreal and evocative imagery which felt incredibly fitting. 'Headless Horseman' is the fourth image from my genesis photography collection 'Las Luminarias', a visual documentation of my time spent at this surreal, 500-year-old, rural Spanish festival. On the 16th January, in the small mountain village of San Bartolomé de Pinares, Spain. In honour of San Anton, the patron saint of animals, horses are ridden through bonfires, in the belief that the smoke and flames will purify and protect the animal for the year ahead. Over 140 riders took part on this night, riding their horses through burning pine bush to purify and protect them for the year ahead.