The North Wales Project

Featuring work from our member @philip___jones Follow his account for everyday observations around the urban fringes of the North Wales coast. . . #documentaryphotography #cymru #northwales # https://www.instagram.com/p/B0GbuBqAkn2/?igshid=1aa8djkhcvmm3

FINAL IMAGE: Sharing the work of pro photographer @nicktreharne and his series of documentary portraits ‘20:20 Vision - A Portrait of Wales’. . North Wales Portraits No. 9 I first met Guto Roberts on Saturday morning. He was emptying the litter bins along the seafront in Caernarfon. So cheerful and chatty was he that I walked with him a while as he picked up litter and emptied the remaining bins. The gulls, he told me, follow him hoping for chips that had been put in the bins. But the gulls were out of luck that morning and did not appear in shot. I returned the following day hoping to see Guto again but our paths didn't cross so yesterday I tried for a third time. There he was, as cheerful as ever. Guto has been working with Caernarfon Harbour Trust for thirty years. A former Boatsman (or Bosun), he used to work out on the Menai Straits laying marker buoys and other navigational aids. However, two replacement knees have meant that it's more difficult for him to work on a boat deck so his role now is as a Groundsman instead. Before that he'd done five years in the Royal Navy and ten in the Merchant Navy. The gulls appeared. "They're not stupid you know", he said, "they know if there is something in the bin or not. And you don't want to try to kid them too often either otherwise they'll shit over you", he laughed. "Are you the happiest man in Caernarfon?" I asked him (from a safe distance). "I don't know about that but you've got to be happy". He laughed again, contentedly. 08.04.2019 . See more about Nick and his project on our intro pic! . #northwales #documentaryphotography #portrait #monochrome #wales #cymru https://www.instagram.com/p/BzusV0sgeET/?igshid=mvscjdncfro5

Sharing the work of pro photographer @nicktreharne and his series of documentary portraits ‘20:20 Vision - A Portrait of Wales’. . North Wales Portraits No. 8 Last night in a pub in Caernarfon I got chatting to Jimmy Clarke and Geoff Lamerick. Both have been into motorcycles for forty years or more. Geoff, I found out, was building a motorcycle in his house, so this morning I paid him a visit. He'd bought the bike in 2011 and had decided to rebuild it. Since then it has been sitting on the coffee table of his front room, in various states of repair. Before this, I was told, the previous owner had kept it in his front room for fifteen years too. "I've built several other bikes since getting this one", said Geoff, "that's why it's taken so long. But there's not much left to do now." When finished, the "chopper" will have a 1967 Triumph Bonneville T120 650 cc engine and will be fitted with extended springer forks. "I want to do up the house this summer so it's got to be out by then", said Geoff. "I'm in a bit of a race with a friend of mine, for the last seven years. He's building a 1947 Indian Chief. I'm slightly ahead at the moment", he added. 07.04.2019 . See more about Nick and his project on our intro pic! . #northwales #documentaryphotography #portrait #monochrome #wales #cymru https://www.instagram.com/p/BzsLc-Xg7gu/?igshid=1wv1ipafhofgh

Sharing the work of pro photographer @nicktreharne and his series of documentary portraits ‘20:20 Vision - A Portrait of Wales’. . North Wales Portraits No. 7 Veterinary surgeon Bryn Kirk sets off on a training ride from his van parked beneath Yr Eifl on the Llyn peninsula in North Wales. The van, a former AA van, he converted himself and is fitted out with a bench seat that converts into a double bed, shelving units, a small stove and has a portable cold water shower. He is training for the Welsh Three Peaks event which hopefully will see him summit the three highest peaks in Wales while cycling between them. Beginning in the north with the highest, Snowdon, the challenge will then take him to the southern end of the Snowdonia National Park to the second highest peak, Cadair Idris. From there he will cycle further south to the Brecon Beacons National Park and Pen y Fan, the highest point in South Wales. The record for the event is 22 hours which Bryn (and a friend he will be with) have their sights on breaking... "although it won't matter if we don't break it", he says. 05.04.2019 . See more about Nick and his project on our intro pic! . #northwales #documentaryphotography #portrait #monochrome #wales #cymru https://www.instagram.com/p/BzpYG2QAoIz/?igshid=h2jqixzr3m9l

Sharing the work of pro photographer @nicktreharne and his series of documentary portraits ‘20:20 Vision - A Portrait of Wales’. . North Wales Portraits No. 6 Jim Seaman and "Lola". During the gorse fire that had threatened the old fishermen's huts on Nefyn beach (see previous post North Wales Portraits No. 4), Jim and Lola had arrived on the scene concerned about their own tiny white fronted hut. Jim has been coming to Nefyn for 71 years since his parents first brought him when he was just one year old. Having formerly been successful in commerce, Jim now lives in Ruthin with his wife and shares his time between there, a home in Majorca and a bungalow on the cliffs above Nefyn that he shares with other members of his family. The tiny beach hut that measures just 10 feet x 15 feet dates from around 1900 and inside backs onto the old retaining wall. 31.03.2019 . See more about Nick and his project on our intro pic! . #northwales #documentaryphotography #portrait #monochrome #wales #cymru https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzm7ymbA1EB/?igshid=lb1xabzz98i5

Sharing the work of pro photographer @nicktreharne and his series of documentary portraits ‘20:20 Vision - A Portrait of Wales’. . North Wales Portraits No. 5 In Criccieth, I noticed a sign in a window inviting people to come inside and use the facilities to relax. A former antiques shop, it had now been opened by the current owners as a community room. I went in and was soon chatting with Mark Jones who lived upstairs with his wife and six children. He and his family had moved to Wales four years earlier and then bought this building in 2017. It contained the empty shop so they decided to give it back to the community. "Y Nyth",as it is called in Welsh (The Nest), is now a comfortable community space used by individuals and groups. It hosts a book club, a toddler group, a youth club run by the council and a worship meeting on a Friday night. "The main users are local teenagers, a hang out zone", said Mark. "What a lovely thing to do", I said. "Freely you give, freely you receive", Mark replied. 31.03.2019 . See more about Nick and his project on our intro pic! . #northwales #documentaryphotography #portrait #monochrome #wales #cymru https://www.instagram.com/p/BzkX2PqgOMC/?igshid=4jyuragxu9al

Sharing the work of pro photographer @nicktreharne and his series of documentary portraits ‘20:20 Vision - A Portrait of Wales’. . North Wales Portraits No. 4 Driving across the top of the Llyn Peninsula last Sunday evening, I could see in the distance, a few miles away, a fire burning on the hillside that encloses the beach at Nefyn. The flames were clearly visible and threatening some fishermen's huts that lie at the western end of the beach. I drove on, then turned down a narrow lane that I thought would take me close. A while later I saw a fire engine parked; it was still about a quarter of a mile from where the fire was burning. I walked through a field then down a cliff path onto the beach and toward the fire. "We've got it under control now", I heard a firefighter shout. It was the Incident Commander, Ashley Hughes, bringing a small group of onlookers up to date. He and his crew from Station Nefyn 17 had been on the scene for about an hour he said. The gorse fire had, he thought, probably been started carelessly by youths discarding a cigarette. It had been impossible to bring any water onto the fire so the firefighters had beaten out the flames and, in doing so, had saved the line of beach huts that have been there for very many years. 31.03.18 . See more about Nick and his project on our intro pic! . #northwales #documentaryphotography #portrait #monochrome #wales #cymru https://www.instagram.com/p/BzhxVIXAI6T/?igshid=109m0hn422399

Sharing the work of pro photographer @nicktreharne and his series of documentary portraits ‘20:20 Vision - A Portrait of Wales’. . North Wales Portraits No. 3 Early on Sunday morning I was walking through the narrow streets of Dolgellau. A church service had just finished and through the open door I could see inside. Father John Bosco Bukomba of Our Lady of Severn Sorrows Roman Catholic Church was chatting with a few of his congregation. He looked magnificent in purple vestments and was holding a small bunch of daffodils. Originally from Uganda, Father John had first come to the U.K. as a missionary in 2007 and moved to the Dolgellau parish in the Wrexham diocese in 2012. That morning, each lady in the congregation had received a bunch of daffodils, he told me. It was Mothering Sunday. 31.03.19 . See more about Nick and his project on our intro pic! . #northwales #documentaryphotography #portrait #monochrome #wales #cymru https://www.instagram.com/p/BzfNAMFgKCw/?igshid=xuup2acca59y

Sharing the work of pro photographer @nicktreharne and his series of documentary portraits ‘20:20 Vision - A Portrait of Wales’. . North Wales Portraits No. 2 Charlie Thacker and Matt Thomas have recently started a new business called "Shady Designs". I stumbled upon them both in a boat yard near Aberdovey, busy working on their first yurt. Often using a traditional tool called a froe, the yurt is hand carved out of locally sourced cleft ash. "It's been a mixture of green working and angle grinding", they said, "mixing the old with the new". 30.03.19 . See more about Nick and his project on our intro pic! . #northwales #documentaryphotography #portrait #monochrome #wales #cymru https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzco1IEAYUI/?igshid=9pl83mdjokaz

Sharing the work of pro photographer @nicktreharne and his series of documentary portraits ‘20:20 Vision - A Portrait of Wales’. . North Wales Portrait No. 1 Annie Grundy, General Manager and Programmer at the Magic Lantern Cinema, Tywyn. Pictured here with Scully, her black Labrador, who retired from working at the cinema about a year ago - she used to wear panniers containing business cards and leaflets of the forthcoming shows which patrons would take from her! "Thankfully she doesn't like popcorn otherwise she'd be the size of a horse", said Annie. Annie's husband, Geoff, and his business partner, saved the threatened cinema in 2010. Six months after taking it on they were warned that it would never make it, but that the building would make a good "Pound Shop". Today the cinema has become a hugely successful community hub, employing twelve people. "It's a massive privilege to be a part of it", said Annie. 30.03.2019 See more about Nick and his project on our intro pic! . #northwales #documentaryphotography #portrait #monochrome #wales #cymru https://www.instagram.com/p/BzaAo4kgFEm/?igshid=8tia9t2l7tdq

COMING SOON: We’ve been looking for some first class documentary portraiture to bring to you, so we asked top Welsh pro photographer @nicktreharne to help us out and he said yes! Nick was a staff photographer with the Western Mail and is a freelance photographer in the corporate/PR sector. He has work held in the National Library, Aberystwyth and the National Museum Wales, Cardiff. . What Nick says about his project: “20:20 Vision - A Portrait of Wales” (working title) is a photographic project documenting Wales and its people as we approach the year 2020 and beyond. The project is deliberately wide in scope allowing me to freely travel throughout the country, photographing as I go. Much of the work will be observational in nature as I seek out engaging moments in the streets, the countryside and the many events that take place during each year. In addition, Portraiture will feature largely as I focus on the people I meet as I travel, and who generously allow me a few moments of their time to take their picture*. With the project having begun in earnest in January 2018, the aim is to build a comprehensive portfolio of contemporary life in Wales – Wales in my time. *The short series “North Wales Portraits” that we’re sharing has been taken as part of this much wider project. https://www.instagram.com/p/BzXs5rJA_DI/?igshid=vsb9s7dog6z6

Sometimes it is not the human in the frame that tells their story, but the traces they leave behind. Simplicity at its finest! @rpsmithphoto #thenortwalesproject #documentingwales #storiesfromthenorth Takeovers coming soon... https://www.instagram.com/p/BtnnFVYgjKq/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=n9wpgmkwtn5o

From the series ‘His Place’ by member Hazel @hazelphilippa This project questions how we engage with the space around us, by exploring her fathers environment. “These images capture the natural chaos, presenting a fragmented frame that encourages the gaze to wander.” Image: Abergynolwyn, November 2018 #documentingwales #thenorthwalesproject #hisplace #abergynolwynforest (at Abergynolwyn) https://www.instagram.com/p/BtTIn3XAhPz/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=5xhye9kn1txr

Snowdonia is probably one of the most heavily photographed areas on the British isles, yet it’s past and present are intertwined with complex narratives that often go unnoticed. Rob @with_the_grain_photo gives an insight in his series ‘Snowdonia Revisited’ ‘Marchlyn Mawr’, Sept. 2017, Snowdonia. From stone quarries that have been active since the Neolithic period and slate quarries that provided roofing for Britain and the world, to modern hydroelectric schemes: The Snowdonia (Eryri in the Welsh language) landscape of 3000ft/1000m mountains, valleys and lakes is one of the world's most beautiful national parks that also bears the scars of man's industry.  These are studies that reveal the beauty of what is hidden underneath the surface and new topography as a consequence of man. #documentingwales #storiesfromthenorth #thenorthwalesproject #hiddenwales #snowdonia #nationalpark #whatshiddenbeneath (at Marchlyn Mawr) https://www.instagram.com/p/BtOhemxg7it/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=106tyv5jsby9w

Last week, this collective of likeminded photographers came together! We have a combined desire to create photographic responses to our region and people. For our next member, he gets to know his local area through his lens. There is no boundaries to what he captures, documenting the world as it presents itself. For Philip Jones, there are no image titles, it’s what’s in the frame that’s important. Welcome to the team @philip___jones #documentingwales #storiesfromthenorth #thenorthwalesproject https://www.instagram.com/p/BtK6FHAFpce/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=nuwhrhcs0q4