The idea of following the Silk Road came to Wilton-Steer in 2007 when he lived in Beijing, studying Mandarin and doing an internship.

"On the flights over from London, I would often look out the window imagining all the places in between, and it was then that I began to think about making an overland journey, but I had no idea how I would do it," he explained.

The opportunity came when Wilton-Steer started working for the Aga Khan Foundation, a development organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of disadvantaged people, promoting pluralism, and enhancing self-reliance in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

For his work, Wilton-Steer would often travel to Central and South Asia where he would photograph and document the organization's work.