Lindsay Blatt & Paul Taggart are 30 and 31 years old and are experts at selecting gas station sandwiches while rushing between horse round-ups.

MOSSLESS: How did you meet and how did you get started on this series?
LINDSAY BLATT & PAUL TAGGART: We met about six years ago while Lindsay was an editor at the photo agency that represented Paul. We worked on a crazy story about anti-whaling in Antarctica. Lindsay had researched and produced the two-month trip for Paul, who headed down to the South Pole with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. The organization’s boats would attempt to ram Japanese whaling ships during hunts and draw attention to the country’s illegal whaling industry. The project was an insane nautical adventure that was published in magazines around the world. Later, the images were used for the book and Discovery reality TV series Whale Warriors. Over the years, we kept in touch, always bouncing story ideas off each other while trying to find a great project to work on. Last year it happened when Lindsay suggested we collaborate on a transmedia project on the Icelandic herdsman and their annual round-up.

ML: How has it been received?
LB & PT: So far the project has received a lot of support from photo and travel sites, and is being published in a few overseas magazines in the coming months. We are still hoping for a domestic print publication of the series and are planning a return trip to document a small group of herdsmen as they drive the horses into the highlands for the summer. The post-production of the film element of the project is taking quite a long time, though we’re getting good feedback on the bits of footage we released so far.

ML: Paul, it seems this series is a sort of breather from your photos of conflicts and crises. Is this the first time you’ve stepped back in this way?
PT: Herd has been a nice breath of cold, crisp, Icelandic fresh air, but it has hardly been stepping back. Lindsay and I were hanging off cliffs, shooting out of tiny planes, and hiking up mountains with loads of gear on our backs in the rain trying to get those great shots and 30 seconds of footage. We were deeply involved in the subject matter and very physically engaged in the shooting process. This has always been the way I like to work, whether it’s covering a conflict or following these amazing animals and the people that depend on them. I have always loved photography for the diverse opportunities and situations it gives us as storytellers, and this is no exception.Early in 2010 I was shooting in Haiti, and it was amazing to witness the effects of the earthquake. The people I met and worked with were astounding. Just a few months later, I travelled to Iceland and met and lived with a group of extraordinary herdsmen. I just feel so privileged to do this kind of work. Budgets and assignments are shrinking at newspapers and magazines, so it is a great time to be working on projects like this.

ML: What’s next?
LB & PT: Post, post, post production and more post production on the video, audio, and web elements of the project. We’re also coordinating for our return trip to Iceland to document a several characters who will hopefully play a key role in our story. We may broaden the theme by documenting herding cultures internationally, but for now we have plenty of work with our awesome Icelandic herdsmen.