Where Have All the Gingers Gone?
Good question. Here is an answer.
Perhaps you signed up to this Substack feed for more Gingers of America portraits. After a series of posts about my Fabricated Land project, you may be wondering what has happened to the gingers. Here is an update.
Now We See is a weekly email about the artist’s process that brings light to your inbox – and sometimes that light is glistering, gold rays refracted through a thousand ginger hairs.
Gingers of America is a new long-term project of mine, and part of my larger ongoing portrait series Gingers, which features hair but – spoiler alert – is not really about hair. Rather, it is my quest to show the connections between nations and cultures. So far in the past decade, I have independently published two Gingers books (buy them here and here), sold Gingers postcards and exhibited my Gingers portraits in Scotland, London, Russia and, most recently, the US.
Handily enough for me and my travel budget, gingers in the US seem to gather in specific cities. Perhaps for safety? Last year, I was able to gather portraits of people originating from over thirty US states. I travelled to Portland, New York, D.C., Oklahoma City, New Haven and little Siloam Springs. I shared some articles here, here, here, here and here . Each trip was made on the back of invitations to teach – and even preach – and to make new photographic work. Thank you to JBU, Yale, and George Fox universities, who believed in me and my work enough to do this. I am still amazed by that.
The Plan for the Future
I aim to make a dummy chapter of a Gingers of America book this year, and to publish a book of the portraits and interviews in 2026. With the right resources and time, I could do it now, but I need to make a minimum of two more trips to the US before having a body of work ready to show to the world. I plan currently to make portraits in California and rural Virginia, but I am open to suggestions! Do you know any US ginger hotspots or people who can help me tell the story of America’s diversity?
A question on my mind is how I will get back to the States from my home in Edinburgh, Scotland. On top of travel and accommodation costs, the £1,000 carnet (like a passport for equipment) to avoid Border Patrol taxing me is not a thrilling prospect, but I remind myself to focus first on the strength of the story. This was the case for other Gingers trips I have made – to Treasure Beach in Jamaica, or Perm in Russia, or Washington, D.C.: the ideas came first, and these were strong enough to help me find funding.
How to Help the Gingers
I would love it if you could help me get Gingers of America out into the world. There are various ways you can lend a hand.
Ways to support:
Share this article (or other Gingers articles) with your friends
Send me your suggestions for where to go next in the States
Buy yourself or a friend an annual subscription to the full Now We See Substack feed
Buy the current Gingers books or postcards (or connect me to US stores that might sell them)
Collect my other work or buy an original photoweave
Sponsor a future Gingers trip to the US, or suggest potential sponsors, please!
Thanks for reading!
Kieran