Our major travel feature for the Annual Adventure Issue was to take part in the 2026 Royal Enfield Moto Himalaya – a ride to the world’s highest road that is a mountain pass in the Himalayas; higher even than Everest Base Camp. In a sign of respect and admiration to all those intrepid travellers who have passed near this area of the border between India, Pakistan and China over the decades, Callum Cooper decided to shoot some of his ride in old school black-and-white photography.
As he explains: “My mum Helen travelled close to this area in the mid-1970s going overland from Canberra to London. Only five photographs survive; hard to imagine now with travel built around capturing every second, edited and posted on the day. To honour the old days of travel I bought a cheap Fuji Work Record camera, used on Japanese construction sites in the 1990s. Weatherproof, shockproof, bumper guards around the lens. I wore it around my neck the whole ride; no need to take gloves off to shoot. Two rolls of black-and-white film. Here are the photos that I think sum up the essence of this challenging but ultimately rewarding adventure in a way that Helen’s five photographs spoke to me, without any words, when I was young.”
