A group of sheep in the Salau mountains, in the Catalan Pyrenees. © Joan Alvado
Eloy González (22 years old), from the city of Mataró, was a student of the School of Shepherds in 2010. Eloy did his period of practices in a farm in Escàs, Catalan Pyrenees. © Joan Alvado
Xevi Crosas (33) works with his son Nil in El Serradet de Barneres, a new farm in Manlleu, Plana de Vic. Xevi was student of the School of Shepherds in 2009, and now is running his own farm in a cooperative with a friend and his wife. © Joan Alvado
Marc Alvarado (28), did his practice with a mountain shepherd in Baguergue (Vall d’Aran). Since then, Marc works each summer as a mountain shepherd in the French Pyrenees, taking care of groups of thousands of sheep. Marc Alvarado (28), did his practice with a mountain shepherd in Baguergue (Vall d’Aran). Since then, Marc works each summer as a mountain shepherd in the French Pyrenees, taking care of groups of thousands of sheep. © Joan Alvado
Students at the School of Shepherds go through one month of theory and four months of practice on a real farm. © Joan Alvado
Cows in a corral in Aguiró, Vall Fosca, Catalan Pyrenees. © Joan Alvado
A farmer works with horseshoes, La Pobleta de Bellveí, Catalan Pyrenees. © Joan Alvado
Foggy morning in Manlleu, Plana de Vic. © Joan Alvado
Pau Ramirez (19). © Joan Alvado
Work inside a farm in Cals Frares, in Aguiró, Catalan Pyrenees. © Joan Alvado
Gloria Rodríguez, a young student from the School of Shepherds, during her practice period as a shepherd in Cals Frares, in Aguiró (La Vall Fosca). © Joan Alvado
A workday at Cals Frares for Gloria Rodríguez, during her period of practices. © Joan Alvado
Night scene in Llesuí, Catalan Pyrenees. © Joan Alvado
Josep Font (32), inside his family home in Casa Perales, in the village of Llesuí. © Joan Alvado
Josep Font (32) and Anna Plana (28), are married and work together with a herd of 100 sheep in Llesuí, a village in the Catalan Pyrenees. Anna was one of the girls studying in the first generation at the School of Shepherds. Since graduating, she has managed to have her own livestock project. She worked as a hairdresser before. © Joan Alvado
Josep and Anna carrying a “gripia” (tool to serve food to the animals) to their corral through the snow. Josep has his own job during the week but helps his wife to do heavier shepherding tasks on the weekends. © Joan Alvado
Sisco Baron (33) was student at the School of Shepherds in 2010. Today he works on his own project with goats in an urban environment in Begues—close to Barcelona. Goats create security areas, preventing fires in the forests. © Joan Alvado
Rainy day at work for Sisco Baron. Sisco didn't want to move to a rural area, his aim was to be able to work as a sheperd in his own city of Begues. © Joan Alvado
View of three villages in La Vall d’Àssua, in the Catalan Pyrenees. © Joan Alvado
Marc García (26), doing his practice as a shepherd in the mountains of Salau. Marc received special training from a shepherd specialized in dogs. © Joan Alvado
Eloy González (26), took the course at the School of Shepherds in 2010. In 2013, he started with his own herd of 80 goats. Eloy works in his hometown, close to Barcelona. © Joan Alvado
Eloy González, closing a working day. His dream when joining the School of Shepherds was to work as a shepherd near Mataró, an urban environment close to Barcelona. Eloy succeeded in finding a job as a shepherd and then later was able to get 80 goats of his own. His plans are to keep working with a small number of livestock, in a sustainable way. © Joan Alvado
Gloria Rodriguez, student at the School of Shepherds, closes in her herd for the night. © Joan Alvado