Tony Charles Pioneers of Welsh fine art portraiture collection has been purchased by the National Library of Wales for its photographic archive and for its external public exhibitions loan programme to selected art galleries in Wales.
The second year photography degree project captured striking black & white images of some of the leading Welsh pop, rock & entertainment icons who started performing in the 1960s. The icons Tony photographed have been instrumental in helping preserve and develop the Welsh language and culture. The collection is the result of twelve studio shoots.
The images comprise Heather Jones, Meic Stevens, Gwyndaf Roberts, Delwyn Sion, Hywel Gwynfryn, Geraint Jarman, Dewi ‘Pws’ Morris, Huw Jones, Dafydd Iwan, Frank Hennessy, Y Dilau – Mair Robins, Gaynor Walter John and Meleri Mair, and Maldwyn Pate. Twelve images were selected from over 1,200 images taken during the 2017/18 academic year.
During the second half of 2018 the exhibition was exhibited for two months at Yr Hen Llyfrgell, The Hayes, Cardiff, and then in Oriel Plas Glan Yr Weddw, Llanbedrog, north Wales up to Christmas.
Some of the studio portrait images were shot in Cardiff, including at the Cardiff Metropolitan University photographic studio, Llandaff campus, others in north Wales. The uniqueness of the project in terms of capturing an aspect of Welsh music culture, has attracted extensive media coverage including a review on BBC Radio Cymru.
Further details, including S4C television’s coverage of the exhibition launch, can be found here.
Tony gained his Associate of the Welsh Photographic Federation in 2012 and on completing his Photography degree is planning to continue studying at University to undertake a Master’s degree in Fine Art specialising in Photography.