New photographic book captures images of Wales’ breathtaking landscapes

Martin Shipton

The wonders of Wales have been captured in a stunning new photographic book.

Wales/Cymru is a new, fully bilingual profile of Wales through the lens of photographer Nigel Forster, with over 200 spectacular images.

Forster uses striking light, seasonal colours and simple forms and compositions to capture fleeting moments of dramatic and emotive landscapes.

Distinctive 

The distinctive collection covers the diverse geography of Wales’ scenery and coastlines, from the mountains of Eryri, the Lone Tree of Llanberis and the Fairy Glen of Bettws-y-Coed in the north to the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, Blaen y Glyn waterfalls and Llyn y Fan Fach in mid Wales, and the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, including Carew Castle and Tenby Harbour, in the south.

From a line of sheep forming a vignette of rural Wales to the majestic grandeur of its mountain ridges, the photographs reveal the country’s most tranquil scenes and breathtaking views.

Forster said: “Wales is a spectacularly beautiful country, with such wonderfully varied landscapes.

“I have done my utmost to capture that infinite variety, the wildness, the rugged mountains and dramatic seascapes, the charm of gentle river valleys, atmospheric ancient castles, and the pleasures of appealing small towns and villages.”

In his introduction to the book, Forster states: “I’ve lived in Wales for over thirty years, though I grew up in the Midlands and lived in London during the 1980s. Initially, I qualified and worked as a quantity surveyor. I retrained as a landscape architect before becoming a project manager and then the CEO of an environmental charity for which I was hopelessly underqualified, but somehow got by.

“At the same time, I was always an outdoors enthusiast, and I was keen to capture places I explored and visited. Finally, 15 years ago, I was able to make a career from a subject I was passionate about, and it’s been my work ever since.

“Very quickly, after turning to photography in early 2009, I started selling my work and spent my time trolling around the shops and galleries of South Wales, looking for outlets for my work. I also displayed my images at many of Wales’s craft fairs and agricultural shows, which varied in experience from quite lucrative to anything but. I have worked with Visit Wales, two of Wales’s national parks, and several local authorities, as well as private clients in the tourism, exhibition and architectural sectors. I was lucky enough to be given the commission for the backdrops at the twenty fourteen NATO Summit at the Celtic Manor Resort. I also write for the photographic press and present my many topics on outdoor photography to photography clubs and societies around the country.

“I then began sharing my knowledge by teaching others. At last, some of the skills learnt as a company director came in useful. Initially, my courses were on a one to one basis in the Bannai Brycheiniog. However, in the last few years, these have also developed into group workshops in Wales and beyond. These have allowed me to explore great places throughout The UK, from the cityscapes of London and coastal landscapes of Dorset in the South to the Isle Of Skye and Scottish Highlands in the North.

“This has also convinced me that I would never swap out unpredictable and frequently abominable, but incredibly photogenic weather for warm but tedious unbroken Mediterranean sunshine. Like so many other photographers, my equipment evolved from film cameras to digital DSLRs, and more recently into a lighter Nikon mirrorless system. A godsend if you’re carrying a bag full of camera kit and a tripod up one of Wales’ lovely but often challenging mountains. More often, I’ll make do with a single camera and lens and save any space for sandwiches, chocolate, a flask, and a nice warm jacket. During the time I’ve captured these images, I’ve experienced all that Wales has to offer.

“From amazing first light at dawn over the most magnificent landscape, to feeling utterly wet, cold, and miserable, whilst forlornly waiting for the light to change, mostly sitting under a hopelessly inadequate umbrella halfway up a mountain several miles from anywhere. It’s included days when I’ve been able to see images everywhere with a thrill of seeing the results of my work, to those where I’ve given up and put my camera away feeling like the world’s worst photographer. I’ve had an entire bag of equipment swept off a carefully selected rock while shooting the image on page 41 at Bracelet Bay in Swansea, assuming that it was perfectly safe, but forgetting that tides can come in quite quickly. On another occasion, I mistakenly assumed that my tripod would withstand a 60 mile per hour wind and prevent my camera from disappearing into a rather deep reservoir in the Yilan Valley. I’ve had wonderful days meeting some of the most amazing and friendly people and others where I’ve been chased off public rights of way by an angry cow, an even angrier farmer, and an overwhelmingly large flock of sheep.

“Each of these experiences form an important part in the making of this book, which I very much hope you enjoy, and if so, please let others know about it. If you’re sufficiently inspired to one day join my outdoor photography workshops, please feel free to do so. You’ll see lots of details on my website at www.creativephotographytraining.co.uk.”

Wales/Cymru is published by Graffeg at £40.