Ginger hair portraits show unexpected 'golden thread' connecting Americans

For Kieran Dodds, photographing people with red hair has become something of an obsession over the past decade.

The 45-year-old, from Edinburgh, who is himself a "proud ginger", began taking pictures in his homeland in 2013 as part of a series examining Scottish identity.

His interest in the subject soon took him to other ginger hotspots such the Russian city of Perm and Jamaica's Treasure Beach.

His 2020 book Gingers spanned the world but after its release he notice there was a "huge gap".

"I realised I didn't have any American citizens," Kieran told the BBC.

"Then all these people got in touch."

"I was like 'oh wow, of course, the whole world is in the States'," Kieran says. "It's a microcosm."

He says a message from a Native American man who had red hair instantly aroused his curiosity.

"I found it very interesting and it made me think, 'where on earth did it come from?'"

The cover of his latest book - Gingers of America - features Joshua Elliot from the Muscogee (Creek) Nation in Oklahoma.

He told Kieran that some of his mother's relatives were German and on his dad's side there were people from England and Sweden, so that could explain where his ginger hair comes from.

"My mom's side has always been involved with the Muscogee tribe and traditions and I've grown up around it," he said.

Joshua knows he does not fit people's expectations of what a Native American should look like, but he said: "Our chief's wife told me it's about your involvement in your community and your tribe, the people around you and what you put back into it.

"Which I really took to heart."

Kieran spoke to a lot of Native Americans on his visits and most knew of a European ancestry which could explain their red hair.

"The thing that surprised me was how early on there were these Scots and Irish marrying Native Americans," he said.

Lottie Wahkinney, a Comanche girl from Oklahoma, has Scottish grandparents, from Galashiels.

Her father Jared told Kieran his dad was Comanche........

© BBC