The Pankisi Gorge in northern Georgia is perhaps most famous for being a recruiting ground for ISIS. The senior ISIS leader ‘Omar the Chechen’ grew up in the area, where his family still lives. The valley had been home to around 9000 Kist people since the late 19thC. The Kists are Chechen in origin and
The North Caucasus, although geographically within Europe, feels quite different from the rest of the continent. Bordered by the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea and the Caucasian Mountains, it consists of several republics within the Russian Federation including Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan. Possibly nearer the bottom of most people’s ‘to visit before I die’ lists
The Kailash Kora Mount Kailash has loomed large in my imagination for many years. I read several books about the mountain – To a Mountain in Tibet by Colin Thubron and the Sailfish and a Sacred Mountain to name a couple. I researched making a trip there and when I decided to embark
The Road to Kailash (part 2) After several days travel we had crossed half the Tibetan plateau on our journey to Mount Kailash. An ancient place of pilgrimage and holy to four religions, Mount Kailash stands in the remote far west of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, a barren high altitude region, bordered by the
There’s a land that has been embedded in my imagination ever since I was a kid. Lying on the floor of my bedroom in the west of Ireland over long summer holidays I would devour the comic books by Herge and join Tintin on his adventures around the world. My favourite of all
The Road to Kailash (part 1) Once I decided to embark on my photographic project ‘Devotion’, exploring faith traditions around the world, I knew that Mount Kailash would be its center point and anchor. An ancient place of pilgrimage and holy to four religions, Mount Kailash stands in the remote far west of the Tibetan
I’ve started off the new year with a couple of articles in the celebrated Life Force Magazine. (“You have built a modern day version of LIFE magazine, probably an even better one.” Gordon Wiltsie, National Geographic.) The photo essays review my two books – Priests and Pilgrims of Ethiopia and Banaras, Holy City
The prestigious Royal Photographic Society recently published a five page spread about my work on ‘Devotion’, a photographic journey exploring different faith traditions around the world from the sufi shrines of Kurdistan to the holy glaciers of the Peruvian Andes; from the mountain top monasteries of Tibet, the rock-hewn churches of Ethiopia and the burning
Earlier this year I won a Sony World Photography Award for my image – Turning the Buddha. I managed to borrow a black tie and make it to the London Hilton Park Lane in time to be presented with a full frame, mirrorless Sony a7ii. Although usually a Nikon man, this is a great camera,
I feel a deep gratitude to the people I have met along my travels. Not all of them, of course – but most of them. Often desperately poor, some became my friends with whom I’m still in touch, a few were my guides and fixers, others shared with me what little food they had with
