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2012 West Coast Eisteddfod Online Poetry Competition winner Paul Steffan Jones reads his 2013 submission 'Song of David'

ENTER THE 2014 WCE ONLINE POETRY COMPETITION HERE

'Landscape Figures' - by photographic artist, Glyn Davies BA (Hons) 

A major new photographic exhibition will be launched at Oriel Ynys Môn on Saturday the 9^th of August.  This is Glyn Davies’ second exhibition at Oriel Ynys Môn, and is quite a departure from his first show, as for the first time we see Glyn introducing the naked form into his magnificent landscapes.

For Glyn the landscape has always been more important than photography itself, however, for just over 3 years now, he has been spending much of his time on a new project which deals with the subject of fragility and vulnerability of the human form in wild landscapes, and it was in his late twenties that he discovered the freedom and liberation of sunbathing on naturist beaches that had a major influence on his attitudes to nudity and his approach to this new project.

“I found myself fascinated by the link between the stripped-bare naked form and the naturalness of the wind-formed sand – everything seemed ‘right’, understandable and connected.  I started to place myself in many other landscapes whilst out and about shooting images for my gallery, and I realised that the simple exploration of nude figures within landscape was becoming a self-portrait project, but there was a growing intrigue to see if others would relate to my ideas”.

Glyn started to advertise for amateur models via his Facebook page but most of the volunteers were customers he met in his Menai Bridge Gallery who seemed to possess suitable figures and he was cheeky enough to ask! And the more models he photographed and the more images he produced, the easier it was to find new volunteers, as they wanted to be part of what they could see as an intriguing series of images. 

In most cases Glyn has hidden the models faces, as he did not want his images to become ‘portraits’ of actual people, but simply studies of figures in situ.  “Although the nude is vital to the project and an integral element of the images, they are not really ‘nude’ photographs – they are landscapes, given a greater sense of scale, drama and power by the inclusion of the human form”.

This project has been completely self –funded by Glyn, and this Easter he displayed a ‘taster’ exhibition of just six prints for the Anglesey Open Studios event, “the response was really heart-warming as visitors young and old, male and female, excitedly chatted about the locations, the figures, the concept and the beautiful prints”.

At the same time one of Glyn’s new images ‘The Commandment’ was chosen as the winner of a  contemporary fine-art photo contest run by the Netherlands based ‘Unlimited Grain Gallery’, this image will be included in a hard backed art book.   Glyn also intends to produce another book based on his Landscape Figures which will be added to his series of four hugely popular landscape books.

The exhibition will be shown at Oriel Ynys Môn until the 21^st of September.

Local Farmers, Food Producers and Tourist Organisations in North Wales are now working together on an exciting new venture. A joint initiative to benefit the local economy; promoting local food products and enhancing the visitor experience by making these produces more accessible to visitors.‘The Wind of Change’ is the only film contribution from Wales to enter the 'Farmers on Film' Festival at the world’s largest cheese show, ‘The International Cheese Awards’, Nantwich, Cheshire, UK on 29th July 2014.

“I have great pleasure in letting you know that we have received a stunning entry from Wales for the cheese factor competition and I am so impressed with the trailer that it will be used to open the festival” (Sarah Gayton, Farmers on Film Festival Director).

This film not only shows stunning scenery of the Snowdonia & Anglesey region of North Wales but more importantly promotes how local farmers, food producers and tourist organisations are now working together to benefit the local economy whilst enriching the visitor experience of North Wales by creating more opportunities to visit the local producers in person, and gain an understanding and appreciation of how local produce is sourced and the uniqueness in taste of these authentic fresh foods. This venture can help sustain the ongoing and development of local businesses and enhance ‘The best of what Wales has to offer’.

‘Making better places for people to live in and better places for people to visit’.

The film is a joint initiative from the following organisations who all contributed in portraying the ethos of the message