Matthew Joseph's photographs of Glastonbury Festival give us a brief snapshot of life beyond the main stages

Next week the festival returns after a year off and everyone’s excitement is building, and even though the headlines will be focused on the Pyramid Stage and the celebrities spotted in the wings, there is a host of other people who make the event what it has become today.

Thirteen years ago photographer Matthew Joseph attended his first Glastonbury and discovered what all the fuss was about, but also noticed the diversity and freedom of the nearly 200,000 people on Worthy Farm.

"It is a safe place, a place lacking in judgment and a place of free expression. This naturally creates one of life’s great melting pots of people – one which I was keen to capture on camera,” he says.

Shot in the summer of 2017, The Pilton Project provides us with a brief snapshot of life beyond the main stages – attempting to reach the core of what and who makes Glastonbury what it is. From young to old, fringe performers to circus acts, sewage collectors to charity workers – each of these people had their own unique reason for travelling to Worthy Farm, and each is truly fascinating in their own way.

London-based Matthew Joseph is an award-winning photographer whose commercial work sees him shooting across the advertising, editorial, and corporate industries for global brands and creative agencies. Emigrating from the music industry, he moved to photography bringing his love of light and wanting to find the journey behind the face. Both his personal projects and advertising work have been internationally recognised and published, and he is proud to be listed in Lürzers Archive top 200 ad photographers worldwide.