‘Ginger is, by my classification, a spectrum from auburn to strawberry blond,’ says Kieran Dodds, a Scottish photojournalist whose country has one of the highest per capita populations of red-haired denizens in the world.

‘Fellow gingers greet each other with a look of surprise and wonder. Even in Scotland, we are so rare that to see someone else with it is unexpected and sublime!’

Kieran notes that his radiant minority is sometimes subject to ridicule and stereotyping, and that even the term ‘ginger’ itself is fraught. ‘In Scotland, it is often used as a term of abuse,’ he says. ‘I wanted to use this derogatory word and redeem it for its descriptive power. Ginger appears gold, orange or brown, sometimes all at once.’ 

‘Before Scotland voted on independence last year, I spent time looking at my own country and working on a few stories. I was considering how we are perceived globally to consider the myths and realities. One of these myths is our physical appearance and how it relates to identity. I wanted people to see people, not cliches.’