Midsummer morris dancers and their mysterious goat Caprihorn

Morris dancing was long a male-dominated tradition; the Morris Federation was created in 1975 to allow women to join sides, and the older Morris Ring did not admit teams with women until 2018. Today women make up more than half of Britain’s Morris dancers. Hollie Fernando wanted to record that change and, after seeing the all-female Boss Morris perform with Wet Leg while she was working with the band, decided to make a portrait of the group on Rodborough Common in Stroud during a practice evening.

Boss Morris are makers as well as dancers, constantly adapting their own costumes. For the shoot Fernando borrowed Victorian nightgown pieces and worked with a stylist from the group to create a new look. The dancers usually paint their faces; Emma, a florist, brought flowers for her decoration, while founder Alex Merry wore a moss face affixed with eyelash glue.

One member, Rhia, later turned the moss motif into a fable called The Mossy Babber, a neat example of how local folklore can grow.

Britain, Stroud

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