Holding Fire
Each year men, women, and children carrying flaming tar barrels run through the streets during the 2018 November 5th Bonfire Night in Ottery St Mary, a town in Southwest England. This 17th century tradition celebrates the Gunpowder Plot, a foiled terrorist conspiracy in 1605 to destroy the House of Parliament. While a crowd of 20,000 descends on the town to view the celebration, only community members are eligible to carry the barrels. This series shot with a 50mm documents the intensity and passion of this communal ritual.
