Q: Why did you choose the women of Munnar for your project?

I came across the women in the tea fields during a commercial shoot last year and couldn’t stop thinking about them. I was amazed by their work, conducted in such a physically intense environment, and, from a visual perspective, the pattern of the women among the rich, neatly harvested tea fields captured my attention.

Q: What did you want to achieve with this project?

My belief is that many of us live in a ‘society’ where we’re always striving to achieve something new or have the latest thing – we can find ourselves in our own bubble, with limited capacity to look beyond this. I felt it was important to show a glimpse of another way of life; that there are women, for better or worse, who carry out this type of hard labour and appear to inherit the role of ‘providers’ in their family naturally.

Q: What was the biggest challenge you faced during your Special Project?

I had initially intended to photograph the women as I would on a fashion shoot; to bring that editorial style to a naturalistic setting. I quickly realised that this wouldn’t be possible. The women had to pick a certain amount of tea per day and couldn’t afford to take any unnecessary breaks. That resulted in me adopting more of a documentary style of shooting, looking to capture the personality of these individuals within the everyday environment that surrounds them. I relied on natural light and a bouncer, and I think the images reflect the connection between these women and their work. Adding too much ‘style’ to the images would have proven a distraction.

Q: Do you have a favourite moment?

When I showed the women themselves the images I was taking. They were so excited with the results, they asked me to take more of them and of their friends. To me, it meant that they were genuinely happy that I was helping tell their story.

Q: What did you learn from your trip?

That you can put so much effort into planning but once you arrive in such a remote location to capture completely new content, you have to be flexible and willing to adjust to the situation. This was a far cry from my usual territory of shooting models. Working with real working women in a live environment meant I had to approach every situation differently. I pride myself on being able to adapt and creatively tackle whatever I come up against. I’m an active part of the #Zcreators community, which sets out to use the Z series to tell stories in new and unique ways. I’m so grateful to have the opportunities to push my own creative boundaries and explore what I’m capable of producing.

Q: You used the Noct lens for your shoot. How did it help you?

The NIKKOR Z 58mm f/0.95 S Noct is like nothing I’ve used before. It’s large f/0.95 aperture, when combined with a camera like the Z 7, gives unbelievable potential to separate and isolate your subject from the surroundings – which allowed me to focus the viewer’s attention on a specific area in the frame. It meant I could do justice to the connection between these women and the environment around them – whether that’s via intimate portraits or crisp landscape shots. The lens is incredibly sharp wide open, so you can use the aperture for creative control and not have to worry about sharpness and fringing for example. As for the Z 7 itself, the camera always delivers no matter what the conditions. Whether I’m shooting on location or in the studio, I can always rely on it – so that’s one less thing to worry about!