Ben Harman, Director of Stills: Centre for Photography in Edinburgh, speaks to Kieran Dodds.

Kieran Dodds is an award-winning photographer based in Edinburgh. After reading Zoology, he trained at the Herald newspaper group in Glasgow becoming an independent photographer after picking up a string of accolades including a 1st prize World Press Photo award for his self-assigned story: The Bats of Kasanka. A Winston Churchill Travel Fellowship allowed him to complete The Third Pole, documenting Tibetan culture in flux at the source of the Yellow, Yangtze and Mekong rivers.

At the time of the Independence referendum, Dodds considered the myths and realities of his native Scotland. Land of Scots traces political and cultural narratives found within the country's diverse physical environments. The portrait series Gingers originated at the same time using a visual cliche to sift through assumptions of national identity but uses the trait to connect distant countries across political boundaries.

In his more recent series Hierotopia we witness a new perspective on combating the ecological crisis, charting the role of ancient ideas on the protection of rural landscapes in northern Ethiopia. The work was awarded a Sony World Photography award and has been exhibited in LA, New York, London and Edinburgh.

Dodds' work is represented by the Panos Pictures, London.

www.kierandodds.com

@kierandodds (Instagram)