1984/85 Miners' Strike
After travelling to London to visit picture editors, work began to come my way. It was a crazy time, and I worked non stop photographing what I wanted the world to see. I come from a mining community in South Wales and my uncle was on strike. I was told by a Fleet Street Picture editor, 'you are a witness, not a participant'! He couldn't understand why I punched a police officer! 
From a media point of view, times were very different. Getting up at 3AM and walking over the mountain in the middle of winter, to a picket line, to avoid police road blocks was my daily ritual. Ten photographing soup kitchens and food distribution. Sometimes, I had to take the films straight to the train station so a courier could pick them up and take them to Fleet Street. If I had time, I could process the films and make prints. 
The striking miners and their families were kind to me allowing me into meetings that other media outlets were banned. I learned a lot from those miners and I thank them for making me a better person; a person who will fight against the odds and never give up.










Warning : all photographs are strictly copyright Roger Tiley. Illegal use without permission can be tracked by an ID number. An invoice will be issued.