Midsummer morris dancers and their mysterious goat Caprihorn: Hollie Fernando’s best portrait

‘I wanted to celebrate the women who are reinventing morris dancing. They took me to a pub and gave me a pickled egg mashed up in a packet of crisps. I felt like I’d entered a magical world’

Morris used to be a very male-dominated sport, but in 1975 the Morris Federation was created specifically to allow women to join sides. An older organisation, the Morris Ring, didn’t allow teams with women to be members until 2018, yet today women account for more than half of Britain’s Morris dancers. As soon as I heard about Boss Morris, the all-female side in this picture, I wanted to shoot a portrait of them. I was keen to celebrate the evolution of this traditional form of dance by focusing on young women who are both honouring and reinventing it.

When they appeared on stage at the Brits with the band Wet Leg, who I was working with at the time, I thought, “It’s meant to be! If I don’t do it now, someone else will.” It was really hard to pin the group down, as there are so many of them, but as we discussed ideas they all got excited by the idea of doing a summer solstice shoot on Rodborough Common during one of their practice evenings. It’s a great location – an amazing hilly green space right on their doorstep in Stroud.

Boss Morris are artists and make their own costumes, which they’re always adapting, but I wanted to create our own unique look for this shoot. I have a friend who walks around Brighton in Victorian nightgowns and bloomers and I borrowed some pieces from her, and a stylist friend of Boss came and put the outfits together on the day. It was a big, beautiful collaboration.

They usually paint their faces before a performance. Because Emma, the dark-haired member second from right in the picture, is a florist, I suggested floral decorations instead. She brought the flowers and I just let her do her thing. That’s Boss founder Alex Merry underneath the moss face, which was stuck on with eyelash glue. Another member, Rhia, later wrote a fable inspired by it called The Mossy Babber, which feels like it could have originated centuries ago. It was a great example of how folklore happens – I like to imagine Moss-Face becoming a recurring character and part of local tradition.

While they were getting ready, I had a quick run around to see where we could shoot. There’s a flat bit along the top of the common where they usually dance, so I documented them rehearsing, dressed like this. Afterwards I took some portraits on the hill below, where I could pose them in a more staggered formation, which is how this one was taken. The goat in the background is Caprihorn, one of Boss’s beast characters – the costume is based on a medieval manuscript showing a group of mummers in animal masks.

I’m happiest using that more curated approach, when I get to create concepts and make stories. One of the things that led to me developing a storytelling photography style was my dad taking me to Tate Britain when I was young. He loved the pre-Raphaelites, and that style of painting has been a big influence on my work. I still shoot on medium-format film and hand print wherever possible – there’s a particular green tone that’s so hard to emulate on a digital file.

At the end of the shoot we drove down the hill to a pub where Boss Morris hang out all the time. They gave me a snack where you put a pickled egg in a packet of crisps and mash it all up. It was the first time I’d had that – it felt like I’d entered some magic world.

While looking for a name for the project, I found the old word “hoydenish”, used to describe boisterous, untameable and free-spirited women. I like to promote strength and powerful themes in my work around women, so it fitted beautifully. I really loved spending time with the group and am now keen to start a new female side in Brighton. I have many friends who would be up for it – I just need to make sure I can find the time to do it justice.

Hollie Fernando’s CV

Born: London, 1991
High point: Winning the Taylor Wessing Commission. Shooting Rami Malek for the Guardian. And travelling to Mexico to shoot the Levi’s summer campaign, which was a dream of mine since I was 16!
Top tip: Shoot first, aim later. Don’t overthink or overplan a project as it can come together later, so just get out there and start taking the pictures