2015 - 2023
It was September 2015 and Clémentine and I had just arrived in Abertillery, a former mining town in the South Wales Valleys. We found a place to live on Alma Street, a two-bedroom flat above Perfect Image. The rent was £365 a month, (bills not included) with a pay-as-you-go meter for gas and electricity. Spacious and fairly light, just a three-minute walk from the high street.
It took precisely seven minutes to walk the length of the town centre. In those seven minutes, I counted four coffee shops: Hector’s Cozy Cafe, the Coffee Shop, Coffee Bean and Deja Brew, and the all-important ‘Chippy’.The other stores included a ubiquitous Gregg’s, Darth Vaper, Pawfection Pets and Karon’s fashion. And the town’s five pubs: the Rolling Mill, the Somerset Hotel, the Bear, Commercial and ‘Spoons.
I first stepped into ‘Spoons on a Tuesday afternoon, and the place was buzzing, as it was “steak day”, £5.90 for a pint, steak and chips. I approached the bar. There were six people in front of me and only one person serving. Laying on the bar, was a copy of a newspaper that someone had used to mop the slops from an overflowing pint. “The Abertillery and Ebbw Valleys Dynamic: Your Free Local Paper” was… unconventional. It was unclear where one article ended and another began, and I had never seen a publication with a column called “Sheep of the Week”, a mix of current political affairs and agriculture. I was gripped and started to ask around. Who was behind this quirky idea? The barmaid directed me to 17 High Street:
“Just ask for Julian, love!”.
Leaning against the window was a handmade sign “Dynamic Newspaper”. The office was unusual, to say the least. Inside were two desks, two chairs, a stopped clock, and two filing cabinets. There were stacks of newspapers and on top of them an overflowing bin. Instant cappuccino sachets were littered around a kettle...and more newspapers. On the wall was a sign: “Everybody is welcome to this office. Some when they enter, others when they leave”. Dozing behind one of the desks, surrounded by heaps of crumpled notes, old cigarette butts and books was Julian Meek, the Editor in Chief. Sat at the opposite desk was Sports & Business Editor and financier Tony Flatman. Between the two of them, they had managed to write, publish and distribute a 16-page fortnightly newspaper, since May 2015.
Once the introductions were over, with little hesitation, I announced:
“I want to become the Dynamic’s photographer”
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It was September 2015 and Clémentine and I had just arrived in Abertillery, a former mining town in the South Wales Valleys. We found a place to live on Alma Street, a two-bedroom flat above Perfect Image. The rent was £365 a month, (bills not included) with a pay-as-you-go meter for gas and electricity. Spacious and fairly light, just a three-minute walk from the high street.
It took precisely seven minutes to walk the length of the town centre. In those seven minutes, I counted four coffee shops: Hector’s Cozy Cafe, the Coffee Shop, Coffee Bean and Deja Brew, and the all-important ‘Chippy’.The other stores included a ubiquitous Gregg’s, Darth Vaper, Pawfection Pets and Karon’s fashion. And the town’s five pubs: the Rolling Mill, the Somerset Hotel, the Bear, Commercial and ‘Spoons.
I first stepped into ‘Spoons on a Tuesday afternoon, and the place was buzzing, as it was “steak day”, £5.90 for a pint, steak and chips. I approached the bar. There were six people in front of me and only one person serving. Laying on the bar, was a copy of a newspaper that someone had used to mop the slops from an overflowing pint. “The Abertillery and Ebbw Valleys Dynamic: Your Free Local Paper” was… unconventional. It was unclear where one article ended and another began, and I had never seen a publication with a column called “Sheep of the Week”, a mix of current political affairs and agriculture. I was gripped and started to ask around. Who was behind this quirky idea? The barmaid directed me to 17 High Street:
“Just ask for Julian, love!”.
Leaning against the window was a handmade sign “Dynamic Newspaper”. The office was unusual, to say the least. Inside were two desks, two chairs, a stopped clock, and two filing cabinets. There were stacks of newspapers and on top of them an overflowing bin. Instant cappuccino sachets were littered around a kettle...and more newspapers. On the wall was a sign: “Everybody is welcome to this office. Some when they enter, others when they leave”. Dozing behind one of the desks, surrounded by heaps of crumpled notes, old cigarette butts and books was Julian Meek, the Editor in Chief. Sat at the opposite desk was Sports & Business Editor and financier Tony Flatman. Between the two of them, they had managed to write, publish and distribute a 16-page fortnightly newspaper, since May 2015.
Once the introductions were over, with little hesitation, I announced:
“I want to become the Dynamic’s photographer”
Book
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Published by IC Visual Lab
24 x 17 cm. 128 pages.
Soft cover + 20 pages newspaper insert.
BUY HERE
Press
The Observer
British Journal of Photography
FT Weekend Magazine
Huck Magazine
Blind Magazine
This book was published to coincide with the Exhibition The Dynamic at the Martin Parr Foundation from April to July 2023.
Published by IC Visual Lab
24 x 17 cm. 128 pages.
Soft cover + 20 pages newspaper insert.
BUY HERE
Press
The Observer
British Journal of Photography
FT Weekend Magazine
Huck Magazine
Blind Magazine
This book was published to coincide with the Exhibition The Dynamic at the Martin Parr Foundation from April to July 2023.