Photo Evolution | Photographers Cardiff and South Wales

Photography in South Wales

South Wales has provided the photography world with a wealth of subject material to photograph from stunning Landscape photography through to documentary based photography, South Wales has always provided the photographer with stunning imagery.

Magnum photographer David Hurn in 1973 set up the school of Documentary photography in Newport in South Wales and is considered to be one of the best documentary photography courses not just in South Wales but worldwide.

Robert Frank author of the seminal photographic body of work entitled 'The Americans" worked in South Wales photographing local street scenes. His black and white documentary images depicting haunting scenes of the South Wales coal fields and city streets. In March 1953, Frank travelled to Caerau, a mining village in Glamorgan.

Martin Parr recently created a body of work focussing on dance halls in South Wales.
www.martinparr.com

Keith Arnatt worked focussing on areas of South Wales creating large images for exhibition. The Forest of Dean Project 1986.
www.forestofdean-sculpture.org.uk

South Wales born Peter Fraser created his Valleys project, large format images of places and objects throughout the valleys of Wales.
www.peterfraser.net

Landscapes cityscapes and seascapes...

With gorgeous coast lines the Gower beaches in South Wales are perfect locations for creating landscape and seascape images. Wales also has many historic buildings, manor houses and castles that create a historic back drop for the photographer. The capital Cardiff situated in South Wales on the Bristol channel provides a great backdrop for photographers and film makers alike. A rejuvenated docks and Bay area and modern seafront, houses some wonderful architectural works of art such as the Opera House and the Coal Exchange. The architecture and design tastefully captures important aspects of the Welsh culture, juxtaposing the post modern structures with the industrial and commercial buildings that housed the industries that Wales is defined by and famous for.

In contrast to the South Wales cities such as Cardiff, Swansea and Newport the countryside has a wide variety of areas of outstanding natural beauty. The beaches of the Gower, the industrial landscapes found on the city outskirts all provide the photographer with an amazing variety of things to photograph. The Brecan Beacon mountains of South Wales offer breathtaking panoramas throughout the year, snowcapped or sunlit the South Wales countryside cannot help but inspire the nature photographer.

South Wales with its wide variety of 5 star Hotels, golf clubs and Manor Houses boasts some of the finest wedding venues in Europe, from the contemporary setting of The Celtic Manor Hotel and Golf Club and its breath taking views of the South Wales coastline and hillsides to the Individual and historic character of the Miskin Manor Country House and its gorgeous lawns and gardens, South Wales also boasts some beautiful castle settings such as Cardiff Castle in the town centre, Caerphilly castle and Castle Coch, brides to be and wedding photographers based in South Wales are spoilt for choice for that perfect wedding day location. South Wales also provides a multitude of settings for portrait photo shoots.

The South Wales area has over the last decade become popular with television and film crews using the area for all sorts of programming. Recent series of 'Dr Who' and 'Torchwood' were both filmed in Cardiff and the South Wales area. Although one cannot be 100% certain of the weather how many places do you know where you can experience all the four seasons in one afternoon! South Wales is the place where light and texture are constantly in a state of flux from one day to the next providing photographers with a wide range of interesting environments to work with.

Notes for the digital photographer

The digital revolution has had far reaching effects throughout the world of the photographer. The role has been redefined by having photographic boundaries broadened by new digital technologies. Photographers now have the opportunity to have more input during the post production. The wedding album has seen a revolution in its design process, we do not simply print individual images and stick them in an album. The magazine and coffee table books along with user friendly software now enables us to actually design the layout for the photographers images. The new book design process enables us to create strong narratives with their work. The book allows the photographer to juxtapose strong individual images to form a storyline with a beginning, middle and end.

The digital media revolution has also enabled photographers to work creating an unlimited number of shots without breaking the bank in development and printing costs. Modern high end digital cameras have memory cards that can record literally thousands of high grade images on one card. The darkroom has made way for the digital light room, affordable computers coupled with a wide variety of software programs have speeded up and opened up the visual media world to all giving everybody the chance to test their photography skills. Single run copy hardback books can be made very easily at very affordable prices and many photographers have taken up the book design process to further their photographic skills.

The digital photographer has the great opportunity to create visual designs not bound by the restrictions of the photographic image. High end and many mid-range digital cameras can record 1080p HD film. The ability to create HD film and high quality still images have pushed the boundaries of the photographer further again. The once well defined roles of 'photographer', 'filmmaker' and 'graphic artist' are today merging into a new 'mixed media' era where the traditionally defined role has had to redefine itself and embrace the new audio and visual media that we have at our disposal as visual artists.

The beauty of new media has given the photographer many new and innovative tools to utilise, however the danger for newbies and the professional photographer is knowing when to leave an image alone. Never have so many over processed and over dressed photographs been created, creative tools for the photographer are too easily overused making the work look 'overdone' or plain 'cheesy'. A few years ago when commercial photographers found out how to reduce all of the colour from an image leaving just the red hues [of flowers/wine glass for instance] nearly every wedding album had this effect at some point. Many would agree with me that looking back at those photographs is not a good experience. Effects for effects sake can only weaken the work of a photographer. Also photographers who are suddenly given the software for creating photographer style designs and photographer storybooks is not suddenly going to be turned into a graphic artist overnight! It can take a photographer many years to master the design process and to understand how two images work together when others do not. The digital revolution has indeed changed the world of the photographer, it has opened up many new avenues to be explored, however what is not thought about enough is the question, 'Am I a photographer, graphic designer or mixed media artist?' or 'Am I able to learn the designs skills necessary for the job in hand?' Too often I come across work by a photographer that holds great potential but has been weakened by the photographer's design technique, it can be hard to admit that perhaps they are good photographers but maybe not the best designers.