Photographer James Hole was enjoying himself at a beer festival in West Sussex this summer when he saw his first Mythago performance. Mythago, a new and radically different ritual dance team created in the Bedlam Morris style, is a form of English folk dancing. But it is differentiated by the way that they assume a mystical element while maintaining the exuberance and energy of the style. James was fascinated by the hand painted masks and he decided to do a little research about this masked dance team on his own.
James took a simplistic approach to this and wanted to minimize post production. The location they had planned for him to shoot in were cramped, forcing him to rethink the entire lighting setup and backdrop he had brought along, in no more than two hours James had photographed a total of thirty people.
The idea was to photograph a group of people that were interesting and present them in a way I thought would interest and peak the curiosity of the viewer. I think for me, this sort of project feeds my curiosity. I’ve always been fascinated by subcultures and photography gives me a license to be curious and a way into peoples lives that wouldn’t be possible otherwise.
To see more of Jame’s work visit jamesholephoto.com