March 3, 2015 
Are you familiar with Steampunk? If not, we’ll let this beautiful winter photo shoot by Best of the West introduce it to you. The collaboration took place between a group of friends and their horses in Hot Springs, South Dakota in mid-February, and we think the results speak for themselves.
(Courtesy of Best of the West. Makeup by Lezly Delgado.)
Even if you’ve never heard of Steampunk, you may already be familiar with the concept. The Wild Wild West—both the 1960s TV show and the 1999 Will Smith film—are Steampunk, as was Robert Downey Jr.’s 2009 Sherlock Holmes movie.
(Courtesy of Best of the West. Makeup by Lezly Delgado.)
At its simplest, it’s a movement inspired by the creativity and imagination of writers like H.G. Wells and Jules Verne, in which modern technologies are reimagined with a nod to either the Wild West or Victorian England.
(Courtesy of Best of the West. Makeup by Lezly Delgado.)
(So naturally, there are some corsets.)
(Courtesy of Best of the West. Makeup by Lezly Delgado.)
But the movement also spans a variety of artistic mediums, from film and literature to music, fashion, and mechanics.
(Courtesy of Best of the West. Makeup by Lezly Delgado.)
“Steampunk is a fun idea,” says model Skye Ogilvie (pictured below). “The boundaries of a time with stricter social rules [are combined] with the freedom of technology, even if only steam-powered.”
(Courtesy of Best of the West. Makeup by Lezly Delgado.)
The photographer used Skye’s horses and Sienna Lucey’s horse Clyde (pictured below) for the shoot.
(Courtesy of Best of the West. Makeup by Lezly Delgado.)
(Courtesy of Best of the West. Makeup by Lezly Delgado.)
Skye included her new, 23-year-old rescue horse, Napoleon (pictured below with model Elodie Hawkins) for some of the photos, though she says he was less keen to be in the spotlight.
(Courtesy of Best of the West. Makeup by Lezly Delgado.)
Her saddle horse, Flashman, on the other hand, enjoyed himself once the cameras started rolling. “Flashman was awful when we were getting ready, pawing the air in the most dramatic fashion and generally being a diva,” Skye says. “The minute the models arrived and he saw the cameras, he posed. And posed. For 3 1/2 hours, he was focused and gentle with the dresses and capes and mirrors.”
(Courtesy of Best of the West. Makeup by Lezly Delgado.)
“It was cold, but so rewarding to be creative and spend time with friends and horses. It’s not often art comes from a collective, but what a blessing for a group to work together with their different strengths and have good memories,” Skye says.
(Courtesy of Best of the West. Makeup by Lezly Delgado.)
“Horses bring power and grace; any picture of a human with a horse automatically looks heroic,” says Skye. “And girls with horses are stronger, clearer and more beautiful.”
(Courtesy of Best of the West. Makeup by Lezly Delgado.)
