It was a 2009 visit to Cumbria’s annual Appleby Horse Fair that got me interested in Gypsy and Traveller culture. I went hoping for a visual spectacle to photograph and came away having made lifelong friends with the people I met and having developed a deep personal interest in the challenges facing these communities.
Since then I’ve been privileged to spend time on sites and inside people’s houses and trailers and to photograph parties, weddings and events – and have met hospitality and kindness at every step. This is an open-ended body of work.
** Appleby’s Painted Ladies, photo film is here.
** Travellers’ Tales, a book of Gypsy and Traveller life stories which I edited, can be read here.
** A series of portraits and narratives I made, Rethink, can be seen over here.
** And my recent socially engaged project with seven Gypsy and Traveller women from Cheshire West can be explored over here. The outputs for this include a zine, a series of audio clips and exhibitions.
