Photographer Iain McKell has tracked and befriended a ‘small tribe’ of New Gypsies for over ten years.
Iain McKell’s photographs of this new group of itinerants reveal his deep-seated attraction to both the people and the lifestyle, and betray mixed perceptions of a romantic life coupled with a hard one. The women exude a ragged glamour; the male subjects have a harder edge. But every photo is permeated with a wistfulness and sense of being a proud outsider. The journeys of the New Gypsies are built around a yearly map of festivals and celebrations and much of their time is spent poring over Ordnance Survey maps. McKell’s photographs map the seasons of the horse- drawn travellers’ lives – from primeval celebrations of summer to the interiorised life of wintertime. His portraits often seem like a character from some ancient mystery play, symbolic of a careless purity and oneness with.
Born in Dorset England, Iain McKell studied at Exeter College of Art before moving to London to start his career. He has contributed to The Face, i-D, The Observer, Sunday Times, Independent, WSJ, The Telegraph, English Vogue, French Vogue, Italian Vogue, luomo Vogue, V magazine, Zoo,Tank and Black Book.
In 1982 he photographed a completely unknown Madonna for her first cover for No 1 magazine. Working in Fashion and Portraits, he published his first book in 2004 called ‘Fashion Forever’ documenting British and American counter culture youth movements from Hip Hop to Trance Jungle parties. This April he is publishing a new book, ‘The New Gypsies’ with Prestel and is a 10 year project following Horse Drawn Travelers who live a low carbon footprint life style. There is also an exhibition in London at the Fashion Gallery and in Paris at Acte2 gallery. He currently lives in London with his daughter. iainmckell.iainmckell.com
www.acte2photo.com/site/dossiainmckell/iainmckell.html
Image: Iain Mckell © Iain Mckell, from The New Gypsies.
