Portraits of a People: Retired Gurkha Soldiers
The GWT have a comprehensive support network on the ground in Nepal and they had picked out retired soldiers that they thought had character. Once I arrived in Nepal it quickly became apparent that the key to getting the best shots would be to photograph the subject in their own homes and not at pre-designated locations. So, on day two we re-designed the whole shoot to enable me to visit the soldiers in their homes. This would mean that we'd photograph fewer subjects since the terrain and distance makes getting around very time consuming. However, it's the quality of the images which matters most. We planned three main expeditions, in the east, west and southern regions of Nepal. We would be on foot for 10 days at a time, carrying with us food, tents and all the camera equipment. In each expedition there was myself, a serving British Army Officer by the anme of Captain Chris Thoms, and a retired Gurkha solider from the area we were trekking through, giving us the local knowledge. Additionally, we had 4 invaluable porters who carried all the camera kit, tents and food.
I opted to take stills and HD video kit around Nepal. It was a stills commission but I was keen to record the voices and characters in video too where possible. The stills I knew would be powerful, but there's something about the sounds and personal recollections of the soldiers which only video can capture. Stills kit was a D2x, D200 and various lenses from fisheye up to 200mm. I shoot a lot of primes as a rule, but zooms are also very useful. Reflectors, and two SB800 strobes and Pocket Wizards were with me too. Given the length of time we were away from power, battery stamina was an issue but fortunately the Nikon cameras are outstanding on battery and I managed each mini-expedition just on one battery, not needing to break out my spares at all. On the video front, I had the Sony XDCAM EX1 and Letus Elite 35mm adapter along with radio mics. Video cameras are more power-hungry than stills, but we were using it far less often, principally just for interviews with soldiers after I had photographed them. I had around 40Kg of camera kit with me.
Each interview was different. Often we would be walking for a day through the foothills of the Himalayas just to reach the home of the soldier. There are no telecommunications in Nepal, hence no guarantee that the person we were going to see would actually be there. On one occasions we arrived discover the chap had only as hour previously left to go shopping. Shopping in that region takes three days.
Lighting was always an issue, and more often that not we'd arrive at the least ideal time of day to be doing a shoot; harsh light and strong shadows combined with little time to get the shot in the can before having to move on to the next subject. Typically we'd arrive having just climbed what felt like Everest, unpack all the dokos to get the cameras out and quickly reccy the area for the best place to shoot. Depending on the location we'd shoot inside or out – I was keen to get a good variation of shots so each portrait was very different. I was normally bringing up the rear, so was always doing the reccy and unpacking the cameras while catching my breath! Sometimes we'd have a good length of time to shoot, but other times we'd have 10 minutes. Being flexible and making strong creative and technical decisions quickly was vital. Chris was superb and quickly took to video filming, picking up the subtleties of it and soon was shooting the EX1 on fully manual mode.
Aside from the portraiture I was asked to document the medical camps which the GWT run in various regions of Nepal. The medical camps provide free medical care to retired Gurkha soldiers and their families. There are GP, dental, eye and gynaecological services in the camp and we spent 4 days in total documenting the life of the medical camp.
To see a selection of the portraits from this commission, visit my archive
The GWT commissioned Robert Hollingworth to travel to the remotest parts of the Nepali Himalaya and document the extraodinary lives of retired WWII Gurkha soldiers and their familes
I was commissioned by the Gurkha Welfare Trust to spend five weeks in Nepal documenting the life of retired British Army Gurkha soldiers. Based in Pokhara with the British Army, I travelled the length and bredth of the country in search of retired soldiers and their families. The brief was to document their life with reportage portraiture; capturing their spirit, dignity, pride and honour.The GWT have a comprehensive support network on the ground in Nepal and they had picked out retired soldiers that they thought had character. Once I arrived in Nepal it quickly became apparent that the key to getting the best shots would be to photograph the subject in their own homes and not at pre-designated locations. So, on day two we re-designed the whole shoot to enable me to visit the soldiers in their homes. This would mean that we'd photograph fewer subjects since the terrain and distance makes getting around very time consuming. However, it's the quality of the images which matters most. We planned three main expeditions, in the east, west and southern regions of Nepal. We would be on foot for 10 days at a time, carrying with us food, tents and all the camera equipment. In each expedition there was myself, a serving British Army Officer by the anme of Captain Chris Thoms, and a retired Gurkha solider from the area we were trekking through, giving us the local knowledge. Additionally, we had 4 invaluable porters who carried all the camera kit, tents and food.
I opted to take stills and HD video kit around Nepal. It was a stills commission but I was keen to record the voices and characters in video too where possible. The stills I knew would be powerful, but there's something about the sounds and personal recollections of the soldiers which only video can capture. Stills kit was a D2x, D200 and various lenses from fisheye up to 200mm. I shoot a lot of primes as a rule, but zooms are also very useful. Reflectors, and two SB800 strobes and Pocket Wizards were with me too. Given the length of time we were away from power, battery stamina was an issue but fortunately the Nikon cameras are outstanding on battery and I managed each mini-expedition just on one battery, not needing to break out my spares at all. On the video front, I had the Sony XDCAM EX1 and Letus Elite 35mm adapter along with radio mics. Video cameras are more power-hungry than stills, but we were using it far less often, principally just for interviews with soldiers after I had photographed them. I had around 40Kg of camera kit with me.
Each interview was different. Often we would be walking for a day through the foothills of the Himalayas just to reach the home of the soldier. There are no telecommunications in Nepal, hence no guarantee that the person we were going to see would actually be there. On one occasions we arrived discover the chap had only as hour previously left to go shopping. Shopping in that region takes three days.
Lighting was always an issue, and more often that not we'd arrive at the least ideal time of day to be doing a shoot; harsh light and strong shadows combined with little time to get the shot in the can before having to move on to the next subject. Typically we'd arrive having just climbed what felt like Everest, unpack all the dokos to get the cameras out and quickly reccy the area for the best place to shoot. Depending on the location we'd shoot inside or out – I was keen to get a good variation of shots so each portrait was very different. I was normally bringing up the rear, so was always doing the reccy and unpacking the cameras while catching my breath! Sometimes we'd have a good length of time to shoot, but other times we'd have 10 minutes. Being flexible and making strong creative and technical decisions quickly was vital. Chris was superb and quickly took to video filming, picking up the subtleties of it and soon was shooting the EX1 on fully manual mode.
Aside from the portraiture I was asked to document the medical camps which the GWT run in various regions of Nepal. The medical camps provide free medical care to retired Gurkha soldiers and their families. There are GP, dental, eye and gynaecological services in the camp and we spent 4 days in total documenting the life of the medical camp.
To see a selection of the portraits from this commission, visit my archive
