Samoa

This gallery returns to Samoa in 2013, an island country that immediately became one of my favourite places. Upolu and Savaiʻi felt like one enormous tropical garden: colourful homes stood among palms, villages opened onto the ocean and people seemed to smile wherever I went.

Travel moved at an island pace. Food might mean an invitation into somebody’s home or a coconut beneath the nearest palm; tourists were scarce, and even reaching Samoa was an adventure. The photographs follow village life, volcanic landscapes, rainforest roads, beaches and churches—from Upolu to the lava fields and far western coast of Savaiʻi.

Years later, Samoa still holds a place in my personal top three. It takes some determination to get there, but it is worth every mile.