I worked with The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development in Kathmandu for a four year period to document their work in all eight of their member countries across the Himalayas. I travelled to some extremely remote locations, from the wetlands of the Tibetan plateau to ethnic minorities in the north western frontier province of Pakistan. It was an extensive project which has given ICIMOD a valuable library of images to support their work in the region.
Wandering the streets of Cartagena while on holiday was not the day I thought I would shoot an image which would go on to become a National Geographic cover. I glimpsed this woman on a street corner selling fresh fruit and knew straight away I wanted to photograph her. We spent some time chatting while she cut me some mango. I asked if she would mind me taking her portrait. I only had the chance to take eight pictures before the genuine smiles faded away. The first shot is the one that was chosen. It was selected for the cover of National Geographic for Latin America.
The Nick Simons Institute is an organisation working in Nepal with a mission to train and support rural health care workers. They work in direct collaboration with a growing number of hospitals throughout the country. NSI really is making a difference in a country that really does need the help.
It’s a compelling story and one that needs to be told with pictures as well as words. They invited me to travel to remote hospitals throughout Nepal to capture some of moments that tell these stories. It's been a fascinating journey for me to work with NSI and see first-hand what it means to be a rural healthcare worker in Nepal.
Over a two year period I walked and photographed some of the world’s epic trails for the coffee table book Trekking Beyond.
The book showcases some of the world’s most inspiring routes – from the Himalayas to the Andes, the wilds of the Scottish Highlands to the dusty Australian Outback – exploring the challenges of walking these paths, the history of their formation and the sense of exploration and wonder to be found along these distinctive routes. Published in 2018 by White Lion Publishing.
During the course of a three year period I produced this coffee table book for ICIMOD (International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development). The book aims to give a glimpse of life in the countries of the Himalayas, as it has evolved over millennia, and as it adapts to the rapid changes of the last century.
This extensive project took me to some truly challenging locations from Afghanistan at the far western reaches of the Himalayas to the Chittagong hill tracts in Bangladesh at the far east. My overriding goal was to tell the story of the myriad different peoples who live in the region; their origins, diversity, culture, lifestyles, religion and the extraordinary landscape they inhabit.
The book begins by looking at the day-to-day reality of living in the hills, where subsistence agriculture is still the norm. The important role of domestic animals is the theme of the following section, whether for the nomads of the Tibetan Plateau, agropastoralists in Afghanistan, or farmers in Myanmar. The third section emphasises how, from glacier to river to sea, water is the lifeline for 1.3 billion people. Finally, the book looks at the more recent changes in the Himalayan region and how the people of the region are trying to adapt to an uncertain future.
An article about ultra running legend Lizzy Hawker in The Independent Magazine featured a shoot I did with her in Nepal while she completed her record breaking non-stop run from Everest Base Camp to Kathmandu.
The team behind the fantastic trail running mag ‘Like the Wind’ have created this beautiful new book for 2022 called ‘Running Wild’.
I shot the Lake District section with runner Ricky Lightfoot in Buttermere a few months back, and the Great Himalaya Trail section with Lizzy Hawker.
Design concepts for the Luxury Gold global travel brochure incorporating my photography from 2017-2022.
A shoot in 2022 at a PGL adventure camp in Lincolnshire. The brief was to capture the kids and parents ‘smashing’ the headlines out of the way. I used extreme wide angles to give the effect of arms and legs extending outwards.
2019 edition of the Insight Vacations Brochure for Europe.
Climbers stand before Ama Dablam in the Everest region. Taken while on assignment for The North Face in the Everest region of Nepal.
A shoot for Lizzy Hawker's trail race 'The Ultra Tour Monte Rosa' published in 'Like The Wind' magazine.
With canyons to leap into, waterfalls to abseil down and whitewater rapids to raft on, The Last Resort in Nepal is a great place for a photographer to capture wide-eyed expressions.
I photographed this striking looking woman during a trip to the remote region of Dolpa in Nepal in 2012. She’s carrying a bamboo rice pan for winnowing on her head. The fur is from a Yak, but why she has it on the rice pan I'm not sure. Could it be to keep her hands warm while she is winnowing? Or to keep her head warm while she carries the rice pan? Or perhaps it's simply for decoration. I wish I'd asked her but I was too busy capturing the moment.
SNV - A Dutch organisation based in Kathmandu - asked me to establish a library of images for the incentive.
Photo Trekking in the Himalayas
The cover image for Lizzy Hawker’s autobiography ‘Runner’. Taken in Nepal during her extraordinary run from Everest Base Camp to Kathmandu. The mountain she is silhouetted against is Ama Dablam.
The Jagged Globe brochure for 2016. The first image from 2009 is of retired Gurkas in the village of Barpak in the Manaslu region of Nepal. The second is a picture from 2011 of me perched near the top of the Dung Dung La; a pass on the Hidden Valleys trek in Ladakh in India.
