Ffoton Interviews / Cyfweliadau - ffoton

Haydn Denman has been a documentary photographer for over twenty years whilst also following his main career as a multi BAFTA award-winning television documentary cameraman and director.

Mod, Eddie Crole, near Rest Bay Beach, Porthcawl, Wales.Filltir Sgwar .Part of the 'Welsh Mods' project.
Image © Haydn Denman

Mod, Adam Lewis, Mumbles Pier, Gower, Wales. Part of the 'Welsh Mods' project 2018.
Image © Haydn Denman

Images from Haydn’s ‘Welsh Mod’ series - now published in the book Welsh Mod: Our Story.

Haydn has received numerous commissions in addition to British Council and Arts Council Awards to document communities and regions here in Wales, but also in other parts of the world including Patagonia, the Arctic, South Africa, Palestine and the U.S.A. His photographs have been shown in numerous exhibitions and publications. Collections of his work are held here in Wales at the National Library of Wales and Ffotogallery.

Recorded at the 2019 Northern EYE Festival in Colwyn Bay, Wales.

See below for a small selection of Haydn's work, reproduced here on Ffoton with kind permission of the photographer.

Yma ar Ffoton trwy garedigrwydd y ffotograffydd fe welwch gasgliad bychan o'i waith isod.

See more of Haydn’s work on his website www.haydndenman-photography.com
Follow his work and travels on Instagram @haydndenman
Read more about ‘Welsh Mod: Our Story’ and buy the book at www.welshmod.co.uk

Gallery images © Haydn Denman and used with permission of the photographer.
Banner images © Brian Carroll

Please note: Comments or views made by interview participants are their own and are NOT necessarily the views of the Ffoton Wales team.
See our Terms page for more details.

In this Ffoton conversation, photographer Amanda Jackson talks with Ellie Hopkins about her start in and passion for photography and her long-running project documenting eco-friendly and sustainable living in Pembrokeshire.

Recorded at the 2019 Northern EYE Festival.

In this Ffoton conversation, photographer Amanda Jackson talks with Ellie Hopkins about her start in and passion for photography and her long-running project documenting eco-friendly and sustainable living in Pembrokeshire.

Recorded at the 2019 Northern EYE Festival.

Born in Glasgow and now based in London, Peter Cattrell studied photography at London College of Printing and has taught photography part time at Central St Martins, Camberwell and London College of Communication.

Highly regarded for his landscape photography made in Britain and Europe, Peter works primarily with film and fine printing techniques - and these skills as a master printer brought him to the attention of the renowned photographer Faye Godwin who worked with Peter to print her black and white landscapes of the British countryside. In his own work, Peter draws inspiration from locations through historical research and personal association.

His work is held in numerous Collections around the world, including the V&A, London; Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris; National Galleries of Scotland; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Goldman Sachs, London and National Trust for Scotland.

Spending time when he can in Wales by making new work around Machynlleth and mid Wales area, we caught up with Peter on a recent visit to Ffotogaleri y Gofeb. Ffoton are grateful to Peter and Pete Davis for agreeing to record this conversation and we’re delighted and honoured to have two exceptional analogue landscape photographers featured here.

Recorded at the Ffotogaleri y Gofeb in Machynlleth by Brian Carroll. Our thanks to Diane and Geoff - curators at the gallery.

See below for a small selection of Peter's work, reproduced here on Ffoton with kind permission of the photographer.

Yma ar Ffoton trwy garedigrwydd y ffotograffydd fe welwch gasgliad bychan o'i waith isod.

Gallery images © Peter Cattrell and used with permission of the photographer.
Banner images © Brian Carroll

Please note: Comments or views made by interview participants are their own and are NOT necessarily the views of the Ffoton Wales team.
See our Terms page for more details.

Ron McCormick trained as an artist at Liverpool School of Art and the Royal Academy Schools in London before moving across to photography. He played a significant role in the formation and development of photography galleries across the UK in the 1970’s - including Half Moon Gallery in London, Side Gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne and the original Ffotogallery in Cardiff.

Ron taught on the Newport Documentary Photography course alongside David Hurn and established ‘The Newport Survey’ publication that students worked on as part of their studies over a decade in the 1980’s . He was one of the first photographers to be commissioned by Ffotogallery to produce work for the highly regarded ‘Valleys Project’ in the 1980’s and his documentary work of the changing landscape and communities in the south Wales valleys as coal mining disappeared in the region is considered to be some of the best produced.

His work is held in the Arts Council Collection and in private collections. He has lived and worked in Newport since 1977 and continues to be an active member of the Newport art and photography scene. A major exhibition of his south Wales work 'How Green was my Valley' will open at Newport Museum & Art Gallery on 21 September and run through to 14 March 2020.

Recorded at the University of South Wales Atrium campus in Cardiff by Brian Carroll. Our thanks to Paul Reas for organising.

This is Part 3 of 3. Listen to part 1 and 2

Mount Tom Price minesite, Western Australia, 1983
© Ron McCormick, pan54-735-736

See below for a small selection of Ron's work, reproduced here on Ffoton with kind permission of the photographer.

Yma ar Ffoton trwy garedigrwydd y ffotograffydd fe welwch gasgliad bychan o'i waith isod.

Early on the morning of Friday, 21 October 1966, after several days of heavy rain, a subsidence occurred on a colliery waste and more than 150,000 cubic metres of water-saturated debris broke away and flowed downhill at high speed. It smashed into the village of Aberfan and the northern side of the Pantglas Junior School. In total, 116 children and 28 adults were killed

His latest exhibition ‘How Green was my Valley’ in Newport Museum & Art Gallery runs 21 September 2019 - 14 March 2020.

Keep an eye open for Ron’s new website, currently in development, at www.ronmccormick.com
A selection of Ron’s books are available via BigCartel communimedia.bigcartel.com

Gallery images © Ron McCormick and used with permission of the photographer.
Banner images © Brian Carroll

Further reading from this episode…
Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes : Wikipedia link
Half Moon Gallery and Camerawork : Four Corners Archive link
Camerawork magazine : BJP article
Side Gallery : Amber link
Documentary Photography Course : University of South Wales

Please note: Comments or views made by interview participants are their own and are NOT necessarily the views of the Ffoton Wales team.
See our Terms page for more details.

Ron McCormick trained as an artist at Liverpool School of Art and the Royal Academy Schools in London before moving across to photography. He played a significant role in the formation and development of photography galleries across the UK in the 1970’s - including Half Moon Gallery in London, Side Gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne and the original Ffotogallery in Cardiff.

Ron taught on the Newport Documentary Photography course alongside David Hurn and established ‘The Newport Survey’ publication that students worked on as part of their studies over a decade in the 1980’s . He was one of the first photographers to be commissioned by Ffotogallery to produce work for the highly regarded ‘Valleys Project’ in the 1980’s and his documentary work of the changing landscape and communities in the south Wales valleys as coal mining disappeared in the region is considered to be some of the best produced.

His work is held in the Arts Council Collection and in private collections. He has lived and worked in Newport since 1977 and continues to be an active member of the Newport art and photography scene. A major exhibition of his south Wales work 'How Green was my Valley' will open at Newport Museum & Art Gallery on 21 September and run through to 14 March 2020.

Recorded at the University of South Wales Atrium campus in Cardiff by Brian Carroll. Our thanks to Paul Reas for organising.

This is Part 2 of 3. Listen to 1 and 3

Mount Tom Price minesite, Western Australia, 1983
© Ron McCormick, pan54-735-736

See below for a small selection of Ron's work, reproduced here on Ffoton with kind permission of the photographer.

Yma ar Ffoton trwy garedigrwydd y ffotograffydd fe welwch gasgliad bychan o'i waith isod.

Early on the morning of Friday, 21 October 1966, after several days of heavy rain, a subsidence occurred on a colliery waste and more than 150,000 cubic metres of water-saturated debris broke away and flowed downhill at high speed. It smashed into the village of Aberfan and the northern side of the Pantglas Junior School. In total, 116 children and 28 adults were killed

His latest exhibition ‘How Green was my Valley’ in Newport Museum & Art Gallery runs 21 September 2019 - 14 March 2020.

Keep an eye open for Ron’s new website, currently in development, at www.ronmccormick.com
A selection of Ron’s books are available via BigCartel communimedia.bigcartel.com

Gallery images © Ron McCormick and used with permission of the photographer.
Banner images © Brian Carroll

Further reading from this episode…
John Claridge : website link
Ian Berry : Magnum photographer
New Topographics : Wikipedia link
Walker Evans : ICP website
Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes : Wikipedia link
Half Moon Gallery and Camerawork : Four Corners Archive link
Camerawork magazine : BJP article
Side Gallery : Amber link

Please note: Comments or views made by interview participants are their own and are NOT necessarily the views of the Ffoton Wales team.
See our Terms page for more details.

Mount Tom Price minesite, Western Australia, 1983
© Ron McCormick, pan54-735-736

Ron McCormick trained as an artist at Liverpool School of Art and the Royal Academy Schools in London before moving across to photography. He played a significant role in the formation and development of photography galleries across the UK in the 1970’s - including Half Moon Gallery in London, Side Gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne and the original Ffotogallery in Cardiff.

Ron taught on the Newport Documentary Photography course alongside David Hurn and established ‘The Newport Survey’ publication that students worked on as part of their studies - produced over a decade in the 1980’s . He was one of the first photographers to be commissioned by Ffotogallery to produce work for the highly regarded ‘Valleys Project’ in the 1980’s and his documentary work of the changing landscape and communities in the south Wales valleys as coal mining disappeared in the region is considered to be some of the best produced.

His work is held in the Arts Council Collection and in private collections. He has lived and worked in Newport since 1977 and continues to be an active member of the Newport art and photography scene.

A major exhibition of his south Wales work 'How Green was my Valley' will open at Newport Museum & Art Gallery on 21 September and run through to 14 March 2020.

Recorded at the University of South Wales Atrium campus in Cardiff by Brian Carroll. Our thanks to Paul Reas for organising.

Part 1 - listen to part 2 and 3

See below for a small selection of Ron's work, reproduced here on Ffoton with kind permission of the photographer.

Yma ar Ffoton trwy garedigrwydd y ffotograffydd fe welwch gasgliad bychan o'i waith isod.

Early on the morning of Friday, 21 October 1966, after several days of heavy rain, a subsidence occurred on a colliery waste and more than 150,000 cubic metres of water-saturated debris broke away and flowed downhill at high speed. It smashed into the village of Aberfan and the northern side of the Pantglas Junior School. In total, 116 children and 28 adults were killed

‘How Green was my Valley’ exhibition in Newport Museum & Art Gallery runs 21 September 2019 - 14 March 2020.

Keep an eye open for Ron’s new website, currently in development, at www.ronmccormick.com
A selection of Ron’s books are available via BigCartel communimedia.bigcartel.com

Gallery images © Ron McCormick and used with permission of the photographer.
Banner images © Brian Carroll

Further reading from this episode…
Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes : Wikipedia link
Half Moon Gallery and Camerawork : Four Corners Archive link
Camerawork magazine : BJP article
Side Gallery : Amber link

Please note: Comments or views made by interview participants are their own and are NOT necessarily the views of the Ffoton Wales team.
See our Terms page for more details.

Aled Rhys Hughes speaking at Ffotogaleri y Gofeb in Machynlleth during a John Blakemore event in March 2019. Image © Brian Carroll

Lucy Jane Purrington is a Rhondda-based Artist whose photographic work most often takes on a surreal quality. Her ongoing self-portrait project focusses on themes of identity and mental health whilst at the same time exploring photography as a means of visual storytelling.
Her work has been published in numerous magazines.

Ffoton are delighted to feature Lucy and her work and are grateful to both Lucy and Paul Cabuts for recording this conversation.

See below for a small selection of Lucy's work, reproduced here on Ffoton with kind permission of the photographer.

Yma ar Ffoton trwy garedigrwydd y ffotograffydd fe welwch gasgliad bychan o'i waith isod.

View more of Lucy's work on her website www.lucypurrington.com
Follow her work on Instagram @ljpurrington_art

Gallery images © Lucy Jane Purrington and used with permission of the photographer.
Podcast banner images © Brian Carroll

Topics covered in the conversation:
Barbara Kruger - www.barbarakruger.com
Sherman Theatre - www.shermantheatre.co.uk
John Cage - In a Landscape (via Spotify)
Ian Walker - City Gorged with Dreams: Surrealism and Documentary Photography in Interwar Paris (Amazon)

Please note: Comments or views made by interview participants are their own and are NOT necessarily the views of the Ffoton Wales team.
See our Terms page for more details.

Aled Rhys Hughes speaking at Ffotogaleri y Gofeb in Machynlleth during a John Blakemore event in March 2019. Image © Brian Carroll

Aled Rhys Hughes was born in the Rhondda and is a photographic artist and lecturer.

He has worked in photography for twenty five years and specialises in large format photography using 10x8 analogue cameras.
He was awarded a gold medal for his fine art photography at the National Eisteddfod in Wales in 2005 for his 'Farewell Rock' series and his ‘Mametz’ series was exhibited in the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth in 2016 alongside items from the David Jones archive.

Y mae Aled Rhys Hughes yn enedigol o'r Rhondda ac yn artist ffotograffig yn ac yn ddarlithydd.

Y mae Aled weddi gweithio yn y byd ffotograffig ers pum mlynedd ar hugain ac yn arbenigo mewn ffotograffiaeth analog trwy ddefnyddio camera 10x8. Fe enillodd y Fedal Aur yn yr Eisteddfod Genedlaethol am ei gyfres 'Farwell Rock' ac fe wnaeth e arddangos ei gyfres 'Mametz Wood' yn y LLyfrgell Genedlaethol Aberystwyth ynghyd ag eitemau o archif David Jones.

See below for a small selection of Aled's work, reproduced here on Ffoton with kind permission of the photographer.

Yma ar Ffoton trwy garedigrwydd y ffotograffydd fe welwch gasgliad bychan o'i waith isod.

View more of Aled's work on his website www.aledrhyshughes.co.uk
Follow his current adventures on Instagram @aledrhyshughes

Gallery images © Aled Rhys Hughes and used with permission of the photographer.
Banner image © Brian Carroll

Please note: Comments or views made by interview participants are their own and are NOT necessarily the views of the Ffoton Wales team.
See our Terms page for more details.

Left: Pete’s 10x8 plate camera setup on location in Penrhyndeudraeth, North Wales. And the man himself in his rather special camera black cloth.

Photographer Pete Davis first wielded a camera when he was eleven years old and has since gone on to hone his craft by being an advertising and fashion photographer and was a senior lecturer in documentary photography at the University of Wales, Newport for eighteen years - nine of which he was the course leader.

Known for his large format landscape documentary photography both here in Wales and abroad, the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth staged a major retrospective exhibition of Pete's photography in 2017 featuring work from across sixty years.

Ffoton are delighted to have recorded Pete in conversation with Geoff Young - co-curator at Ffotogaleri y Gofeb in Machynlleth in March 2109 where Pete’s work was part of a group landscape exhibition ‘Rituals of Intimacy’ - alongside work by John Blakemore, Peter Cattrell, Marian Delyth and Aled Rhys Hughes. This conversation was recorded following a morning event where the photographers gave a public talk at the gallery.

Triptych from Pete’s ongoing ‘Village and memorial Halls’ series. © Pete Davis

See below for a small selection of Pete's work, reproduced here on Ffoton with kind permission of the photographer.

Yma ar Ffoton trwy garedigrwydd y ffotograffydd fe welwch gasgliad bychan o'i waith isod.

Copyright © Pete Davis

View more of Pete's work on his website www.pete-davis-photography.com
Follow his current adventures on Instagram @petedavisphoto

Gallery images © Pete Davis and used with permission of the photographer.
Banner image © Brian Carroll

Please note: Comments or views made by interview participants are their own and are NOT necessarily the views of the Ffoton Wales team.
See our Terms page for more details.