The Appleby Horse Fair Mud Portraits

An annual iconic British event, though not without controversy; four days of horse trading along with stalls selling goods, a 300m section of road used for toting and showing off ones horses, and 1 mile away in the village, a river & ford for washing down the horses. The rains arrived on day one. Thereafter I set up a strobe on a tripod, then knelt in the quagmire and encouraged families and children to have their pictures taken. This then is the result, a series of portraits taken over three days of children from the Irish / Traveller / Gypsy / Romany community.