This book, expanding on Dumas’ frequent depiction of working animals, focuses on the caisson horses of Arlington National Cemetery - which lead the burial procession of newly interred soldiers. “Practically speaking,” writes Dumas, “these animals are deemed no longer necessary, but they are of such importance on other levels that - by their disappearance - we miss out on the reflection they offer us, that allows us to process much that happens around us.”

The solemn photographs found in Anima depict the white ceremonial horses resting in the shadows of their stables, their bodies emerging ethereally from the chiaroscuro of the darkened scene. “As I spent time with them,” Dumas continues, “I felt this was maybe one of the most intimate and private moments to witness: the gap between wakefulness and slumber, a space for dreaming and reverie.”