I have always been interested in the idea of communal living, and wanted to find out what it's like living in a commune. I researched communes in Britain and found the Monkey Sanctuary, where all keepers, volunteers and staff live on site all year round to care for the monkeys. I found out about the monkeys they are caring for, and what an interesting job the people at the sanctuary are doing. I was intrigued to find out who these people are and what their lives are like, what would make someone give everything up to go and live in a monkey sanctuary so far away from normal life?

I was expecting to find the people and their choices really interesting; I wasn't prepared for how I would be affected by their commitment and dedication to the welfare of the monkeys. I came to realise that the bohemian community that I had imagined were in fact a group of incredibly hard working and focused people who have ended up living together in order to dedicate more time to the care of the monkeys. I found people from all sorts of backgrounds working together all year round isolated from friends and family. My first aim was to explore why people would give up contact with the outside world, but I quickly realised that it was their dedication to their work that made them prepared to give up so much, not a desire to escape anything.

I contacted the sanctuary and made a deal that I would work as a volunteer in return for the opportunity to take some photographs of the people and the work that they were doing. I visited them three times over three months. In those visits I worked really hard, but I got a lot more out of it than I was expecting. I have learned so much, not just about looking after primates, but about looking after the world, and about how people with little in common can come together to achieve something really important when they feel strongly and are prepared to work hard.

I hope that my photographs will give everyone who sees them an insight into the hard work and dedication of these people. I want viewers to understand, as I now do, the beauty and fragility and importance of the monkey sanctuary and all the hard work these basically anonymous people put into it every single day.