The project came about because for me it just had to.
I first visited in 2009, thanks to the marvellous NGO Riders for Health, on a whistle-stop shoot travelling through this remarkable mountain kingdom. On the winding, climbing roads I’d see herder boys working and could immediately see a story that I just couldn’t shake the image of - their silhouettes against the sky, these icons of Lesotho wrapped in the woollen blankets that provide their only protection from an intense sun or a brutal winter. The herder boys work astonishingly hard, for very low pay, in the toughest conditions imaginable. It is the only option available to some, who often have very little formal education and can enter into this employment from early childhood. Last November 2016, I was able to return to Lesotho to shoot these portraits and with some valuable assistance from the team at Riders I came home with some very special new work.
The exhibition has been supported very generously by Hasselblad. It has been printed and framed by Metro Imaging - the prints are truly stunning - and is being hosted at the White Space gallery (aka the old Photographers Gallery) just off Leicester Square in London from June 26th to July 1st 11-7pm daily. I'm really proud of it, please let me know your thoughts. Thank you.