Fashion among the follies

Niall Hampton joins Emma Finch for a fashion shoot on location in the historic surrounds of Hawkstone Park Follies

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Last month's cover feature about capturing historic structures in scenic photographs (June issue, 295) made one notable omission: the folly. These objects were erected by the owners of landed estates for a variety of reasons - commemorating an eminent family member, a battle or military campaign of national significance, a monarch or a public figure - or sometimes simply because the landowner wanted to have another prominent display of their wealth. So this month, we're making up for this oversight with a visit to Hawkstone Park Follies in Shropshire, where photographer Emma Finch has arranged a 'Couture in Nature' shoot.

Finch is a leading practitioner of photography that empowers women and she previously appeared in our One to One shoot at Allerton Castle (Spring issue, 293), which was organised by Session Days, the photo events business she co-founded. For someone who clearly knows where to find great locations for portraiture and fashion shoots, Hawkstone Park Follies was new to Finch. She discovered it on social media, impressed by the fact that one of the locations at the park is a sandstone cliff face that looks like something you might expect to see in the Arches National Park in Utah, USA. Indeed, an image of the cliffs on the Hawkstone Park Follies social media feed is captioned, 'This is not some national park in America', so for today's shoot no transatlantic journey is required.