Luca Campri documents his journey through the kingdom of Lesotho

Photographer Luca Campri took a road trip through South Africa, which saw him travel from Johannesburg to Cape Town. While the series covers many of the places he visited, Lucas’ focus is mainly on the landlocked kingdom of Lesotho, an enclave surrounded by South Africa. “Lesotho isn’t very accessible, most of its territories are made up of highlands where many of the villages can only be reached by horseback,” explains Luca. “I wanted to meet the people and see the landscapes and habitats of Lesotho, finding similarities and differences between South Africa and this little kingdom. I was curious to see if the territorial isolation that characterises the state of Lesotho could affect the lives of its society.”

Together with two friends, Luca rented a jeep with roof-mounted tents, allowing them to sleep in the open air, “surrounded by amazing landscapes”. Luca has captured the magnificent, tumbling scenery, showcasing the lush green valleys that sit within vast, rocky mountains. It’s a country still in early stages of development with farming techniques relying on livestock to plow fields and life expectancy remaining relatively low at 50. “While it’s surrounded by other countries, Lesotho has a different atmosphere to the rest of South Africa,” Luca says. “The social tensions you notice normally are less present in Lesotho, they seem to be both isolated and protected by the mountains in terms of development and growth.”

Luca met many people during his trip including villagers, local school children and the Basotho shepherds (“recognisable by the characteristic woollen blankets they wear”). His portraits of those he encountered are stoic and charming, and capture a sense of Lesotho’s personality beyond the stunning scenery. “I think that most of the people I met during the trip were happy to leave a trace of their presence through the portals and obviously I was glad to carry with me a memory of them.” As well as the people helping to shape the landscape, colour was also an important tool in the series. “I try not to alter colours in post-production to make the pictures look prettier. Since I work on film, I was really amazed at how the light conditions could frequently change during the day,” says Luca.

“The time I spent in South Africa and Lesotho taught me to look at these countries’ in their complexity, avoiding any simplistic and Manichaean view of the place. I used to have a more defined point of view about social problems and the political situation of South Africa before going here, and I came back with more questions and doubts about it.”