Rosalie Moore is one of hundreds of ginger-haired subjects Kieran has photographed. For the 45-year-old Edinburgh photographer, red hair has become an obsession over the past decade, taking him from Scotland to places including Russia, Jamaica and across the United States.
Kieran Dodds, who describes himself as a "proud ginger", began the project in 2013 in his homeland as part of a series examining Scottish identity. His 2020 book Gingers spanned the world, but after it was released he noticed there was a "huge gap".
"I realised I didn't have any American citizens,"
"Then all these people got in touch."
"I was like 'oh wow, of course, the whole world is in the States',"
"It's a microcosm."
"I found it very interesting and it made me think, 'where on earth did it come from?'."
He says a message from a Native American man with red hair immediately caught his attention, helping lead him into a new chapter of the project. Kieran says he has become quite patriotic for America, after seeing the variety of people and histories he encountered there.
Who appears on the cover of Gingers of America?
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 that on his father’s side there were people from England and Sweden, which 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,"
Joshua says he 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."
How early did European ancestry mix with Native American families?
Kieran spoke to many Native Americans during his visits, and most knew of a European ancestry that could explain their red hair. He said he was surprised by how early Scots and Irish were marrying Native Americans.
"The thing that surprised me was how early on there were these Scots and Irish marrying Native Americans,"
Lottie Wahkinney, a Comanche girl from Oklahoma, has Scottish grandparents from Galashiels. Her father Jared told Kieran that his dad was Comanche, while his mum was born and raised in Scotland.
"That's why my Lottie has a good mix of everything going on,"
"My Scottish grandparents would come over every summer."
"On my first visit to Scotland when I was 22, folks were like, 'Where are your moccasins? Where's your headdress?'."
One exception was a Cherokee girl called Lakia, whose family knew of no European ancestry. Kieran said her hair was a different kind of red from the others he photographed.
"It is a totally different colour of red,"
"It's deep ruby. That really intrigued me."
In the book, Lakia says that all her family, on both sides, have jet-black straight hair, but hers turned red during childhood.
"Everyone thought, since I was about eight, that I dyed my hair,"
"And still now everyone's like, 'what hair colour is that?'."
What did Kieran find in Alabama?
After meeting Native Americans, Kieran knew there was something in the US he could explore further. Over the next few years, he made seven lengthy trips, often linked to his full-time work as an environmental photographer.
One state that surprised him was Alabama, which many in the UK associate with racial segregation, the struggle for civil rights and pioneering space exploration programmes.
"I knew it for racism and Nasa,"
"In my head it was stuck in the 60s but Birmingham is an incredibly vibrant city."
"I met a lot of black Americans who had often married someone who is white."
Rachel Releford told Kieran that when she goes out with her daughter Liliana, people think she is the nanny or babysitter.
"I'm like, 'nope, she's mine',"
"I think you still get some people who grew up with the mindset that things need to be segregated."
"Some of my grandparents' friends were a little hesitant when they found out I was dating my husband. They said: 'You're really going to let her date someone of a different race?'"
"But my grandparents were like, 'Go for it. He's a cool guy, he's a sweet one.' I love him for who he is. He's a great human being."
In Alabama, Kieran also met Henry Davis and his young son Henry Davis II. The older man no longer has any red hair, but says he looked just like his son when he was the same age.
"We're not really sure where it comes from,"
"My dad is turning grey now. He'll get some red in his beard, and then it kind of goes grey."
"So I guess it's from his side."
Why does Kieran describe ginger hair as a 'golden thread'?
As someone who grew up with red hair himself, Kieran says he is well aware that ginger can be used as an insult. He says he uses the word for its descriptive power, and because it captures a warmer tone than red.
"I use the word for its descriptive power because red is the colour of fire engines and blood whereas ginger has a golden tone to it."
"You can use it in a kind way."
He says the book uses ginger hair as "a golden thread" that weaves together America’s diverse and difficult history in a way that shows a connection between people.
"That's my big idea,"
"We are all made of the same stuff and with the ginger hair it shows."
How does the project reflect America's diversity?
Kieran says no-one exemplifies that idea better than a young lad named Cali, whom he met in Alabama. Cali has ancestry that includes Irish, African-American, indigenous American and Hispanic roots.
"His background is everything - European, African-American, Hispanic and indigenous as well,"
"His gran is white but was she unable to get married to a black guy in Alabama - even after the courts had made it legal."
"She moved to Georgia and had a family there. It's an incredibly diverse family."
Allison Dubinski grew up in Indiana but says her hair colour is a key asset in helping her stand out in the competitive acting world of New York.
In Scotland, as many as 13% of the population - about 700,000 people - are thought to be natural redheads, a higher percentage than anywhere else in the world. Globally, less than 2% of the population are thought to have red hair, but Kieran's research led him to believe the US figure is higher than that.
"We landed on about 4% for the genetic prevalence,"
"If all the gingers in America were gathered in one place, Gingertown would be about 14 million people."
"It's a big city. You would see it from space it would be so bright."
Evelyn Lee, from Birmingham, Alabama, says she used to hate her ginger curls but now loves them.
"I think it's like Spanish princesses' flowing locks - like medieval paintings,"
Kieran says the biggest difference between America and other places is that people there tend to have thought carefully about where they come from.
"Everyone has self-consciously moved from somewhere,"
"And that includes the Native Americans, who have been moved from other parts of America."
"That's what makes it interesting."
He says the book is a road trip through the US, using ginger hair as a way to learn about the country. For him, the recent men's football World Cup also brought a renewed sense of excitement about America after years of political division.
"There's such a lot of amazing people and communities there,"
"People you might connect with and agree with on a lot of things."
"I'm quite heartened that the football has revealed that."
"I feel quite patriotic for America now."
Keisha Engley grew up in rural Washington State. Her American grandfather fought in Vietnam and met her grandmother there.
Another portrait in the project is Nicholas Modaressi, whose father grew up in Iran and refuses to get his genetics tested.
"I'm Persian," he tells his son Nic, who grew up in Maryland
The series continues to frame ginger hair as both a personal trait and a historical link, tying together families, migration, identity and place across the United States.
