Sometime ago I exchanged a number of email messages with Glyn Davies, a photographer from Wales.  His website is here.

The messages were thoroughly interesting because what we discussed were questions that went beyond photography as a technical skill and entered into the realm of photography as art.  To say the least, Glyn challenged me to do some exercises and to think about my photographic work.  One might say that he put things into perspective and gave me a way to explore my own works that I had not thought of before.

Needless to say, our messages resulted in an instant friendship.  And I hope someday to meet him.  I can only imagine what that meeting will result in.  One thing is for sure, for me, it will be a new beginning, brought about by someone who reached out to me across the cyber world and made me wake up.

I asked Glyn if he would do an interview for this blog and he accepted.  Here it is.  I promise you it is a good read.  If you are struggling with your creative self, you must read his insights and think about what he has to say.

Glyn has sent me lots of photographs to embellish this interview.  I must tell you that selecting images to display was an incredible challenge.  His works are simply amazing.

None of this article, neither words nor text, either whole or in part, may be used in any media whatsoever, strictly without prior written permission of the copyright holder, Glyn Davies © Glyn Davies 2009.

Q.   Have you done any formal training in photography, or are you self-taught?

Yes, I took a one year Foundation Course in Art & Design at the Falmouth School of Art in Cornwall. Following this general arts course, I followed this up by doing a three year Honours Degree in Photography, Film & TV at Harrow College (University of Westminster). However, with both my parents being professional artists, (my Dad is a retired senior lecturer in Fine Art and my mum a retired ceramist and textile designer), my brothers and I were brought up immersed in the art world. Both my parents still draw, paint and exhibit their work even in retirement. Their influence has been very strong on my work throughout my life but the college education were also extremely valuable in terms of forming attitudes and approaches to my work and profession. In fact one of my other brothers, Simon, is also an extremely talented artist and has also gone down the teaching route. My Welsh grandfather was a prolific painter in the naive style and his brother was an eminent illustrator and cartoonist in Wales.

In school, I was surrounded by several other friends who all had art teacher parents such as Danny Markey, Tim Hogben and Ingrid Heseltine. All have remained actively involved with painting and the arts.

Q.  When did you first discover that you wanted to do photography as a lifetime profession?

Whilst attending the one year Arts Foundation Course. Although I was doing lots of photography, primarily to illustrate geography projects, I  initially went to art school to start a career in graphics. However, when at art school, massively encouraged by the photography technician Simon Culliford, and then by my tutor, now very eminent photo artist Jem Southam, I concentrated more and more heavily on photography until by the second term, I had made my mind up to study photography full time at degree level. Living in Cornwall I was hardly in a situation to know any professional commercial photographers but of course I was presented with the work of many international photographers through books. Those such as Terence Donovan were very inspirational to me at the time, particularly those with a penchant for black & white photography such as Don McCullin and for a short while, Ansel Adams of course.

Q.  What were the steps that you went through to become a successful photographer, book author, and gallery owner?

I guess I rarely thought of ANY steps. It was simply an unquenchable thirst and an all encompassing passion for photography as a way of exploring landscape and the environment. I almost didn’t care what I did as long as I could make pictures. The first stage was simply the luck of being born into an artistic family. I was always studious and a hard worker but also was tenacious when it came to getting what I wanted, and that tenacity has probably enabled me to still be taking pictures today nearly 28 years later! At the same time ironically, I am generally cautious by nature and take a long time and a lot of research before making decisions. This can be great for image making and project work but is perhaps not as useful in business, where sometimes very bold decisions need to be taken. Moving into a gallery eight years ago was an exciting but very frightening proposition for me. Likewise book publishing! Books cost and absolute fortune to produce and I have been extremely fortunate to have a friend who put venture capital into the projects. I take some credit in the fact that if I was not able to deliver work of the highest calibre, he would not have invested in me so I must have been doing something right. What I can say is that building up good and quality friendships with a range of people, often past customers, is the best business advice I can offer, because the vast range of skills and assets amongst friends is priceless.

Q.  On your photographic journey, did you go through different phases?

I guess so really, but inevitably influenced by necessity when working as a full time professional. I think we have to assume two different things here. Firstly there is the nature of the subject matter being photographed, and then there is the style of work and approach of the artist. In terms of subject I started out photographing landscape, standing stones and ancient relics, old buildings and textural subjects such as quarries and deserted industry. I was always into sailing however, and my first picture sales were to sailors whose classic yachts I had photographed. I was (and of course still am) in love with the sea and sailing so I was on board boats at every opportunity, camera in hand! I started working for sailing publications such as “Classic Boat” and “Yachting World” but was always trying to find my own style of photography nevertheless. I wanted boats heeling over in stormy conditions and intense low light and drama. Generally these were my favourite sailing conditions anyway so I had much enjoyment from that genre. In college we were exposed to documentary photography and it was quite a shock to be sent out onto the streets of London to approach and picture everyday folk and events. Our briefs required us to do much thinking, research and planning but this has paid dividends in later life. I have since been heavily involved with industrial and interior photography where I would go in with multiple lighting rigs from flash to Halogens and bundles of coloured gels to transform the most dreary and corporate places into Aladdin’s Caves. I often used multiple exposures on 5×4″ cameras to balance the most difficult lighting situations, and would end up with sheets of calculations for how many flashes were needed to light up an underground cavern whilst control panel lights and people moving would have to be lit carefully also. This discipline is another which has stood me in very good stead when dealing with the vagaries and extremes of landscape photography. I guess I was paining with light in the industrial days and now I paint with light using PhotoShop, different technique, same approach exactly. I have also shot hundreds and hundreds of portraits, from editorial images for magazines and corporate brochures, to family portraits, and more excitingly nudes and erotic photography – back to Terence Donovan, whose nudes in landscapes are largely still unsurpassed but whose images live on vividly in my mind. I have photographed authors and actors to politicians and musicians amongst others. The images have appeared on CDs in magazines and on TV.

The constant however, is the style of my work. There will have been subtle changes over the years but I can safely argue that I have always been known for my strength of lighting and atmosphere in most of my work, along with very tight composition. When painting or drawing you always had to plan out the extremities of your page in elation to subject and exactly the same applies to photography. In my mind, anything less is laziness of observation. I have never cropped a landscape image to improve a composition in 28 years (caveat – where I know I want an image to appear as a panorama). It’s humbling to know that Cartier Bresson had a similar attitude!

Q.  In your view, what separates an ordinary photograph from one that you consider to be art?

I believe the image HAS to be self initiated and taken within a project or body of work. I think the idea of taking any individual image and trying to establish whether it’s art on not, is perhaps meaningless.  Artists are those who have a particular vision, approach or style, and often are working on themes or concepts. You could argue that any one of their images in isolation is worthless, or vice versa, that a non artist photographer has shot a work of art, but it would be pointless.

When I am viewing any image, I want to know WHO is the artist, WHAT is the concept behind the image and WHY they created this particular image. I am rarely interested in how. Once I know the concept or theme, then I can asses the image in relation to it. I don’t think it’s possible to identify an ‘artistic’ image from a non artistic one as everything is relative to idea. It why I said to you Bill, that YOU need to identify YOR vision, not for me to tell you what it is. As with al art, some people will understand and appreciate it and it will leave others cold, no problem, that’s the way of things. The PERSON is the art [artist] , not the individual image. The images which impress me most are NOT one-offs, they are those which when I see the rest of the set, make cohesive sense.

Q.  Who was your best mentor?  What did your mentor do to assist you in your work?

There were two mentors in my life, the first, Simon Culliford, was the photo technician at the Falmouth School of Art where my Dad lectured. Not only was Simon’s black & white photography of the Isles of Scilly second to none, he was totally encouraging and was the first person to show me how to develop my first films and multi grade print. He used to give me loads of out of date films (which were fine of course) and gave me access to the art school darkrooms whenever they were not too busy. He advised me on cameras and lenses and film types and different chemicals, in fact there was nothing photographic he wouldn’t do for me. I will forever be in his debt! My second mentor was at college in London. Geoff Davis was my pastoral tutor but was also an incredibly talented graphic designer. He taught me the best lesson I have EVER learned in photography – EDITING and critical self analysis. Whilst Simon taught me almost all there was to know about the technology and technique, Geoff taught me al about style, aesthetic and continuity. We spent weeks over a huge light table, sorting through all the hundreds of images I was rather blindly shooting. We made sets and subsets, then subsets of subsets and finally after whittling maybe 500 images down to about 15, I had to write 4000 words on WHY we had reached that decision – utterly brilliant if not damned hard work! This has also stuck with me EVERY SINGLE TIME I take a photograph. Priceless!

Q.  Was there anyone (i.e. other photographers) who influenced your work, and what was it about his or her work that inspired you?

Don McCullin for his unflinching documentation of horrendous conflict (at the same time stunning beautiful in terms of composition and mastery of light and printing). It was the balance between uncompromising coverage and uncompromising aesthetic skill which made his work noticed and therefore the message public. I would be in tears looking at his images but couldn’t take my eyes off them. Terence Donovan and his absolute mastery of black & white landscape, nudes and fashion work. After seeing a programme about him and then checking out his work in books, I shot my first ever nudes of female student colleagues in art school.  I didn’t have a chance to compare at that age but did my best and thoroughly enjoyed taking my gorgeous naked friends out into the Cornish landscape.

Joel Meyerowitz was the first photographer using colour, on 5×4″ cameras, to have a strong influence on me, and I still have his book “Cape Light” which I bought in college over two decades ago! It wasn’t just his subtle employment of juxtaposed colours that impressed me, but his attention to detail, the little things within the frame which lifted it from brilliant to excellent! Likewise, as I mentioned before, my ex tutor, Jem Southam. His book the Red River epitomised the work he was doing at the time, and again dealt with the smallest details within the scene, which were themselves as unadulterated as could be – he was not worried about finding the perfect light but he was concerned with finding the perfect honesty about particular places and people. He was perhaps the main influence behind subsequent project work I have done over the years.

Q.  When you select a subject for a photograph, what you looking for?

It sounds a cliché but I am not looking for ‘it’ (most of the time anyway). My subject matter usually speaks to me, it makes itself noticed. I am not even conscious of making images sometimes, the landscape has just ’spoken’ to me and before I know it I’m communicating with it, trying to understand it and being influenced by it’s touch, sounds, smells and movement. The resulting compositions are a symbiotic blend of it’s spirit and my understanding of that spirit. I honestly believe that when my customers discuss my work with me, that they too have been speaking with the landscape but sometimes haven’t realised that’s what was happening. They nevertheless come to understand WHY they respond to certain images, not because of decoration, but because they have picked up on the same communication I had. My personal work, in particular landscape, is NOT about photography, it’s about the subject. Simply creating beautiful images could be seen as facile, pointless or simply self gratification. However, IF the image communicates a genuine spirit of the place, then it transcends the mundane.
Most of my images seem to have dealt with bad weather, big seas, stormy skies, wintery conditions, dark and shadows. Nevertheless, within almost all of my work there is usually a brighter moment, signs of hope amongst the darkness. I feel that my work reflects very closely, my own state of mind at the time. Perhaps it is inevitable that I choose to go to certain places in certain conditions, to find the sorts of voices I need, to reinforce or question my own thoughts. It’s like friends, we often choose friends because they offer us particular things and we wouldn’t do or say the same things with all our friends, we choose them accordingly. I see a parallel with my landscapes.

Q.  What photographic equipment do you use and why?

Currently I am using 35mm again, though obviously digital nowadays. I have owned and shot everything from Box Brownies, Leica post war range-finders, Mamiya Twin Lens Reflexes, Hasselblads, Bronicas, Sinar P’s, Fuji S1s, Nikon FMs through to Nikon F80s, Canon F1s and now the Canon 1DS III. I started off using 35 mm as a student and it’s lovely to come back to that way of shooting. I am not obsessive in any way about gear and honestly believe that great images can still be shot on a digi compact. In terms of landscape, it’s all about being ‘out there’ and walking, climbing, travelling and so on. There is nothing worse for me that being hampered and weighed down by my kit. I have some professional colleagues who wax lyrical about old fashioned film cameras and talk about ‘quality’ yet their own work is predictable and tediously dull – technically perfect mediocrity. For me, I shoot with as little gear as possible, usually just the Mk3 and one wide angle zoom, the 17-40 L. I know the lens is not perfect at the corners and yes I would like a bit more edge definition, contrast and sharpness but the lens is nevertheless still brilliant. Not ONE of my customers EVER talks about corner definition as they are only interested in the overall communication of the image, this speaks volumes to me. I like the fact that with a simple 35mm system, I can hide behind boulders whilst waves crash around me, I like the fact I can scramble up mountain and cliffs to get to the most meaningful viewpoints, I simply can’t/wouldn’t do this with a 5×4. I have considered getting a medium format digi but only if it can be kept small, easy to use and not astronomically priced!

Q.  What is the difference between technique and art?

Everything! Technique is just another word for tool. A tool can never be art. The art is in the mind of the creator.

Q.  Do you have any specific photographic experiences that were a wow factor and will remain with you forever?  What were they?  Why were they special?

Doing sailing photography many years ago was always just the best fun. I was out on the sea, an environment I rate above all others, sailing on beautiful hand made wooden boats with gorgeous gaff rigs, and with the sea spray in my face and the wind in my hair, I’d be found hanging off the fore-stay shooting these amazing craft as they raced through the seas, bow waves sparking in front of me and a gorgeous wake behind.

I would also rate the excitement and magic of my very early photo days, when something as simple as a derelict barn, or harbour wall would be my sole purpose for taking pictures, I was thrilled that so much texture could be recorded by the simple box and lens I had in front of me. I always shot in B&W and this suited the subjects perfectly.

Taking delivery of the first copy of my first ever self published book, “Anglesey Landscapes” was perhaps my most notable moment ever. To have selected and published a set of my most cherished images as a beautifully printed hard back book was definitely the highlight of my career to date. Since then of course I have published two more but that first was definitely the most noteable. Most recently, it was my latest project, the “Nant Gwrtheyrn – The Enchantment” book and exhibition. This was seven months of sustained shooting in one small location, where I had completely free reign and unrestricted access to one of the most eye catching and surreal locations in North Wales. This was the most intense and rewarding project I have ever done and has already begun a series of thoughts on new projects.

Q.  How important is photography to you besides any financial gain?

I can’t imagine life without photography, I have lived it and breathed it for almost 30 years. As they say, it’s not a job, it’s a way of life and that is SO true. That said, if I was given a choice of being a highly successful photographer who must live in a city, or being a lowly photographer living on the seaside, then it’s a no brainer, and it seems I have made that choice already.

Q.  What it your favorite/most used post-processing technique?

I am not a “techniques” sort of artist, but I of course have to use RAW developers for my files. This is where I can adjust contrast, colour, sharpness and so on. The biggest problem for landscape photographers is contrast in light levels, so I will sometimes create two files from RAW and cut through one to another to retain information in different areas. I much prefer this individual approach to anything I have seen in HDR which seems to make most images look awfully linear and unreal. At worst HDR look like a bad attack of a colouring in book, as best, as I say, just too ‘balanced’. Although the human eye can rapidly alternate between light and dark, it doesn’t mean a single image should try and do the same

Q.  Many of your best works are done in black and white, do you believe that this form is superior to colour, or is it that some photographs are better in this form?

Quite the reverse these days Bill, I would say most of my best images are in colour! Can’t imagine saying that 20 years ago when I shot 90% of my subjects in B&W but I can now. NOTHING is superior, one way or another. It is essential to choose the approach for the subject, not the other way round. If a subject lends itself to B&W, where perhaps the colour is superfluous, then shoot B&W. If the colour is important, which it often is in landscapes, then shoot colour. I  have no leaning one way or another, I just go with what feels right. Around 90% of all my work is now colour (not including my portrait work which is 95% B&W).

Q.  How do you see your photographic future, what do you dream about?

I dream about having exhibitions world wide, and doing far more books. The problem is that books are a very poor way to make money, and probably exhibitions as well to be honest! However, they are a way of getting your name out there, and ultimately, in raising the price of your prints (which is where you make your money). The TV and Radio work, along with my books and publications, has directly led to an an increase in my print prices. What I REALLY want to get back to, is a LOT more traveling and a LOT more photography. Running a gallery takes up 5-6 days of my week and really isn’t the reason I went into photography in the first place!

Q.  What advice do you have for a beginning photographer?

Don’t If you are thinking of entering the profession, then you are doing so at the worst time in the history of photography. Library fees, commission earnings and even numbers of commissions have plummeted to an all time low. The value, kudos or even respect for professional photographers is also at an all time low, gone are the days when photographers were seen as the master craftsmen or elusive technical artists! The public perception of photographers has got worse, and they are now labeled as ‘terrorists’ ‘trouble makers’ ‘perverts’ ‘pedophiles’ ‘abusers of young models’ ’sharks’ ‘merciless paparazzi’  and so on and so on. Competition from students, amateurs and part timers is at an all time high. At weddings the professional will have the amateurs ‘giving’ free cds of their images to the couple, and shooting like a press pack all round. Smaller companies have employed camera club members to shoot company brochures, amateurs have swamped the main picture libraries with free or cheap imagery, everyone with a desktop printer is selling what they naively refer to as ‘fine art prints’ when nothing is further from the truth, and every man and their dog seem to want to be called professional photographers, an irony indeed!

OK so this sounds cynical but it really isn’t. If you speak to most professionals they will tell you a VERY similar truth. Those who argue against this are most likely to be the very people causing the problem. So unless you really are someone exceptional, shooting images that are VERY unusual, then my serious advice is don’t bother if it’s a living you wish to make.

Alternatively, if you simply want to improve your own personal work, then there really is only one big piece of advice I can share – “Photography is not the end in itself. A great photograph is NOT the culmination of technique and equipment, but a visualization of a passion for your subject. If you don’t have that passion for your subject, it is highly unlikely that you will ever produce anything other than a clever piece of technique.”

Actually one other personal viewpoint, “A good artist will be able to produce a masterpiece on the most limited camera, don’t fall into the trap of thinking that the more gear you have, or the more expensive the kit, the better photographer you will be. Likely as not it will be quite the opposite!”

Q.  What advice do you have for photographers who are struggling with their work?

This needs clarifying as to whether you are talking about professionals and the business, or the personal artist at a loss for direction? If it’s the latter, then I have to come back to the big questions

“WHY – are you taking pictures anyway ?” If you can’t find an answer to this then just stop taking pictures until you find the answer! If you know ‘why’ then you need to ask:

“WHAT – are you photographing” – again it comes back to earlier comments. If you have a passion for anything in your life, whether it’s your partner, or landscape, or fast cars, or wild life, then make that your subject. If you are struggling with your photography then the worst thing you can do is shoot stuff that doesn’t really inspire you, just because you think you should, or because everyone else is.

“HOW to photograph” – Don’t follow the crowd, i. e. the millions of emulators who think that using techniques seen on Flickr will make them all better photographers. Choose the technique that REALLY suits your own particular vision. This will lead to satisfaction, if not greatness, rather than obscurity in the swamp!

Q.  Is there an evolving list of photographic schools that pair with artistic schools?  For example, impressionism, surrealism, art deco, minimalism?

I hope not, for everyone’s sake! I see nothing worse than following a fashion. If you are true to yourself, and more importantly your subject, then hopefully your work will stand the test of time whatever. As to whether it’s part of a ’school of thought or style’ is a separate issue. Only history will tell where you fit in. I prefer to not even think about it, it has no purpose. There are certainly fashionable trends in photography which change each decade, but these really seem very facile and mostly have to fit around the adverting world. These trends are NOT the same as clear periods of art where new approaches and changes in style were both shocking and influential. These days almost everything has been shot or explored. I have seen very very little that is truly any different to what I have see in my own professional career or through looking at art history books. We seem to be floundering at present and I see a lot of emperor’s new clothes.

Q.  Is photography art?

I am sure I have already answered this in a roundabout way, but it’s the ‘creator’ that decides this point. I see myself as an artist as do many others using cameras. I come from a long line of artists, I even used to draw and paint as a youngster, but I chose the camera to create my messages, my art. However, simply saying that because you take pictures makes you an artist is definitely hard to argue. Unlike almost any other form of art, a camera operator can make a picture thoughtlessly – even a monkey could possibly pick up a camera and press a button, but you could hardly call it an artist. Likewise many snappers out there are literally just making records, recording memories in the most basic and haphazard of ways. Yet just because you can use a paintbrush and dip into water colour doesn’t make you an artist either!

IF you choose to use your camera to visually present a concept, or series of ideas then yes of course it can be. If over and above that you also choose to deal with the aesthetics of light, form, colour, hue, texture, content, dynamic and composition then there is really very little doubt that you are dealing with all the same questions as any other artist. Art is about the combination of message through medium. If you use your camera for those reasons then it really is an art form. This is a whole article in it’s own right and I can give loads of examples to support my views on this, but not here.

Q.  What do you consider to be your single best work?  Why is it the best?  May we see it?

I can’t pick out one piece, and with genuine respect I don’t think any prolific artist could. How would you sum up Picasso in one image, without stereotyping a lifetime of work? I could probably pick out my most rewarding image from a particular shoot, maybe year, or even period, but how can you sum up nearly 30 years of image making in one picture ? Impossible. I would also not want to be ‘categorised’ by that choice. At a push I could probably pick out 50 of my favourite images though.

A Slide Show of Glyn’s Work

About Glyn Davies

Originally from Cornwall, Glyn was born to artist parents Gareth and Diana. Gareth is a retired senior lecturer in Fine Art printmaking and still an active artist in his retirement. Diana, also retired, was trained in textiles and ceramics but still draws and paints in her own time. His uncle Dyfed was an art teacher at Friars School in Bangor for many years and his great uncle was Mitford Davies, the famous Welsh illustrator and cartoonist for numerous publications. His brother Simon is also an art teacher and accomplished artist in his own right. Glyn was therefore brought up surrounded by art and artists and his life choices have been heavily influenced accordingly.

Glyn now lives and works on the beautiful Isle of Anglesey in North Wales. Following a one-year Arts Foundation Course at the respected Falmouth School of Art in Cornwall, he left to study Photography, Film and Television at Degree Level in London. On completion of a degree in 1987, Glyn started freelancing for magazine clients, especially yachting and countryside titles such as Classic Boat, Yachting World and Country Living. He is professionally qualified with the Association of Photographers (London) but was also a member of the British Institute of Professional Photography, and the Master Photographers Association for many years. He taught photography part time at the University of Wales for 14 years.

Over his career he has undertaken many industrial and advertising commissions for clients such as National Grid PLC and Midland Mainline Railways using camera formats from 35mm to 5”x4”. Since 1991, he has been photographic tutor at the University of Wales, Bangor developing a range of project based courses with an emphasis on creativity, artistry, concept and narrative. Over the last few years he has been successful in having multiple entries accepted for Shot up North, 2000, 2001 and 2002, and probably more importantly for Glyn, a winning image in the national IDEA Digital Imaging Awards 2002. There have been several magazine articles about Glyn and his work including – Welsh Living;  Digital Photographer; Digital Photography Made Easy; British Journal of Photography; Art Business Today; Image Magazine (AOP); “Business” (WDA); Golwg; FotoVideo (Romania); Coast & Country; The Photographer (BIPP)

In October 2005 Glyn won Silver in an International Landscape Competition in the London Photographic Awards. This led to TV coverage by the Welsh magazine programme, “Wedi 7″.  In 2005, he was featured in a BBC2 Wales documentary, “Welsh Journeys” with news presenter Jamie Owen. In 2006 Glyn was interviewed by BBC Radio Wales for Mousemat – Adam Walton discussed landscape photography with respect to digital workflow from camera settings to software. In 2008 Glyn was featured on the  “ITV Wales – Tidal Wales” documentary series (presenter, Andrea Benfield), following people in Wales whose lives or work are influenced by the tide. In 2009, he was interviewed for TV on the Welsh arts programme, Sioe Gelf, about his third book, and major exhibition at the Wales Millennium Centre, “Nant Gwrtheyrn – Y Swyngyfaredd (The Enchantment). He was also featured on the BBC’s “The Wales Show” about the same exhibition.

In 2002 Glyn set up his own fine-art photo gallery on Anglesey and this was the start of a major transformation of his career. These the emphasis is almost entirely on personal work and the fine-art print market. Almost 95% of all his work is now print sales. He has a large customer base located throughout the UK but is also selling to an increasing number of overseas buyers. His images are not just purchased for display but also as an investment, partly due to local eminence after many years as a full time and published professional artist. His work is held in public as well as private collections and has been purchased by several large corporations and institutions such as the BBC, North Wales Fire Service, University of Wales, Williamson Art Gallery and the Management Development Centre, Bangor. He has customers from Australia to the USA.

In November 2007, Glyn released his first self-published art book “Anglesey Landscapes – Tirluniau Môn”. This is a 120 page, 50 plate hard case book of his most rewarding Anglesey images of the previous 3 or 4 years. In October 2008 Glyn published the second in the series, “Anglesey Landscapes – Tirluniau Môn Vol.2″ with a series of brand new Anglesey images shot since the first book. In 2009 Glyn published his third coffee table book, “Nant Gwrtheyrn – Y Swyngyfaredd (The Enchantment) based on his year long project at Nant Gwrtheyrn, the Welsh quarrying village, once deserted, now the centre for Welsh language and learning. The book was launched at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff by the Presiding Officer for the National Assembly of Wales, Lord Dafydd Elis Thomas.

“After almost 30 years of taking photographs, for the most part simply to please clients and art directors, I am now thankfully back in a situation where I can take pictures just for my own interest, having to please no one. I got tired of making purses out of sow’s ears and turning dust to gold. The beauty about running my own gallery, is that if customers like my images they buy them, if they don’t like the work they leave, I love that simplicity of operation. The reward is that I get to meet some really wonderful people, with a shared interest in the landscape and environmental issues, and we discuss experiences, thoughts and memories. This interaction is absolutely the best thing about running your own gallery. I am happier and more confident now about my work and my business, than at any time to date, I’m in a good place!”