Gender Journey
I've lived in the South Wales Valleys most of my life. I grew up in the 1960s around coal mines and rugby. I'm a valley boy. When I was invited to photograph the LGBT community, it was not the usual subject matter I have been known to document. At first, I felt uncomfortable; as the project progressed I felt an understanding for this community. 
During the 1984/85 miners strike, I became aware of a visit from lesbians and gays in London visiting South Wales to donate money to striking miners and their families. I told in by a member of the NUM not to photograph them, as they would create negative publicity and distract the real fight the miners were up against. For many year, I felt that I'd missed a very important part in industrial history. Thirty years on, I met some of the original Lesbians and gays Support the Miners and photographed them. Indeed they appear in a film I've directed, called 'Pride in our Valley'.
So I feel in a way, by working on this project 'Gender Journey' I have put things right! Covering such a project as LGBTQ is a major undertaking and one I have only began. Will I go back to it to take more photos or make a film? I'm not sure! Would I like to? Yes, it would be good to make a film.









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