Hiraeth: Acclaimed photographer documents Wales in moving exhibition

Stephen Price

One of Wales’ most exciting young photographers, whose work documents Welsh folk, dance and culture today, is set to show her latest body of work at the National Botanic Garden of Wales this April.

Joann Randles, a leading photojournalist from Carmarthen, has curated an exhibition of moving photographs depicting Welsh cultural life in all its potent beauty.

Joanna shared: “I have entitled this exhibition “Hiraeth”, a beautiful Welsh word, which I feel embodies my work, capturing the heart, depth and longing, with attachment to people, places and culture shared with the viewer, whether you notice it or not. My work will continue to evolve for as long as I am taking pictures, I love capturing the emotional connection between people and places with natural atmosphere to ground the subjects in time and context.

“Over the past few years documenting Welsh culture through press photography, my work has reached audiences around the world. I’ve received heartfelt feedback from people who say the images have sparked memories of places and moments they remember fondly or deeply miss.

“Many of the images exhibited at the National Botanic Garden of Wales were shown at the 2025 Festival Interceltique de Lorient, the celebration of Celtic peoples and I really look forward to sharing my work at the National Botanic Garden of Wales, a venue close to home, in a place that is deeply personal to me.

“The National Botanic Garden of Wales provides an incredible venue to host my work, a tranquil place for reflection, where the outside world seems to slip away as you become immersed in nature. Reflecting the style of my photography capturing people, moments, and a sense of place it feels like a natural fit for this exhibition.

“I’ve been visiting the garden since I was young, my parents are members and still visit often and I’ve spent many years there myself as a volunteer beekeeper (yes, there’s a brilliant bee team that many people don’t know about). It’s also where my husband and I were married in the spectacular Great Glasshouse, the largest single-span glasshouse in the world.

“For me, “Hiraeth” is about observing what’s here now, what’s holding on, what’s shifting and what feels like it might disappear if you don’t pay attention, a deep, nostalgic longing, for home, place, or time in our conscience and memories.

“I don’t expect everyone to fully understand the word nor do I think they need to, what matters is the feeling, whether someone knows Wales or not, I hope they recognise something in the images, a personal connection to a place, a memory or just to something they can’t quite put into words.

“As my work continues to evolve, “Hiraeth” is a personal journey, uniquely capturing moments in time yet evolving as a living record of the everyday with my camera in hand.”

Documenting Wales

Joann Randles is famously the first photographic journalist to have represented Wales at the Festival Interceltique Lorient, and her moving images were shown as part of the EuroCeltic Art exhibition, at the Palais des Congrès in the centre of Lorient in 2025. She is a multi award-winning Welsh press photographer based in Swansea, known for her compelling portraiture and evocative storytelling.

Born in Carmarthen and raised along the Pembrokeshire coastline in Tenby and Saundersfoot, Joann’s creative roots run deep. Her passion for the arts began in early childhood and has since developed into a distinctive career that not only champions Welsh identity but also elevates press photography to an expressive and artful discipline.

With a family lineage that stretches back generations in Wales, Joann’s connection to her homeland is intrinsic to her work. Her photographic practice reflects a profound sense of place, culture, and heritage, celebrating the richness of Welsh life through powerful visual narratives.

Working predominantly on location and often in challenging conditions, Joann operates solo on her photoshoots, mastering natural and artificial light with the precision of a painter.

A defining feature of Joann’s work is her specialist role as a professional press photographer, a field that demands not only artistic vision but also rigorous adherence to journalistic ethics, making her an ideal candidate for a documenter of Wales today.

Unlike many forms of contemporary photography, where digital manipulation is commonplace, press images must maintain factual integrity. This means that all of Joann’s portraits captured entirely in-camera. Only minimal post-processing adjustments are permitted, such as subtle colour correction, cropping, and removal of dust spots.

This restriction places a premium on technical skill, precision, and timing. Joann must “get it right in-camera” in the moment, relying on her mastery of lighting, composition, and subject engagement, often under intense time pressure or unpredictable environmental conditions.

It is this commitment to truth, paired with an unmistakably artistic eye, that makes her work so distinctive within the press photography genre.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Joann expanded her visual storytelling practice, bringing her background in filmmaking into sharper focus through still imagery. Her striking photographs from this period gained wide recognition, and her work has since been exhibited in renowned institutions such as the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), and featured in leading national and international media outlets.

Joann is especially celebrated for her ongoing work documenting Welsh folk dance and the cultural life of Wales. Her portraits vibrantly express the traditions, identities, and communities of her nation, making Welsh culture accessible to global audiences through the universal language of visual storytelling.

A National Botanic Garden of Wales spokesperson said: “We are delighted to welcome photographer Joann Randles to the National Botanic Garden of Wales.

“Through her warm and evocative images, Joann captures the warmth and vitality of Welsh folk dance, traditions and communities — a joyful celebration of the culture that makes Wales so unique. “

The exhibition will be held in The Oriel between 1 and 12 April, and the garden opens to the public at 10am daily and from the 1st April the closing time will change from 4pm to 6pm.

See more of Joann’s work here or via Instagram.