Blaenau: Between Earth and Heaven - Photographs by Jeremy Moore

Fri, 05 Sep 08 10:40:00

 

One of Wales’ most famous little towns, will be the focus of a new exhibition by Jeremy Moore which opens on 20 September at The National Library of Wales.

 

The exhibition, Blaenau: Between Earth and Heaven combines photographs of the town famous for its slate and rain with poetry by one of the towns most distinguished sons, Gwyn Thomas. The exhibition is held between 20 September – 22 November 2008.

 

Blaenau Ffestiniog is one of the most extraordinary places in Britain - a town truly built on slate. For two centuries and more slate has been extracted from the mountains around Blaenau to roof the houses of the world. Waste rock has been spewed down hillsides in massive tips which dominate the town. Industrial buildings, machinery, and materials have been abandoned to decay where they stand, and all this set within the grandeur of the north Wales mountains.

 

When the boundaries of the Snowdonia National Park were drawn, a small area with Blaenau at its core was excluded. In this exhibition, Jeremy Moore explores this tiny area and sets human activities within a rugged and sublime landscape. The photographs inhabit the meeting point of the documentary and landscape traditions, and convey the human presence in a meaningful sense, rather than as an aid to composition.

 

This exhibition contains a number of images from the book Blaenau Ffestiniog co-authored with Gwyn Thomas, Wales’ National Poet in 2006.

 

Aberystwyth-based Jeremy Moore is one of Wales’ foremost landscape photographers. His previous exhibitions include Glyndwr’s Place (2004), Heart of the Country (2003-4) and After the Wildwood (1990-2). For more information, go to www.wild-wales.com.

 

Jeremy Moore will give a gallery talk to accompany the exhibition at 1.15pm Thursday 23 October.

 

Jeremy will also be a guest speaker at this year's Lens - Festival of Welsh Documentary Photography to be held at the Library on Saturday 1 November.  

 

 

For more information

 

NLW Press Office: Medi Jones-Jackson on 01970 632 534  llinosmedi.jones@llgc.org.uk