2016 Year Review Part Two
This is the second part of the Composed Images 2016 photo review. If you need a catch up of Part One, head over here.
My second half of Summer 2016 was largely occupied by moving and settling into a new house and Cardiff neighbourhood. As well as getting a small canine creature. She has been extensively photographed.
No longer living within a quick five to ten minute walk of both Cardiff City Centre and Cardiff Bay has had its disadvantages. When it comes to reacting to events, you can’t move as quickly. But there are advantages of greenspace and fresh air too.
[Read: A new St Fagans photographer]
A first visit to the Royal Welsh Show in Builth Wells proved a real eye-opener in July. It’s a Glastonbury-like festival of all things agricultural.
Picture by Mark Hawkins/Composed Images
Picture by Mark Hawkins/Composed Images
Picture by Mark Hawkins/Composed Images
August saw me catch one of my favourite street shots of the year. I’d seen the homeless man on my way into town and considered how he was positioned nicely for an image. The leading lines of the railings under the bridge invited the eye well. And I happened to be carrying an appropriate lens.
On returning he was still there. I quickly tooled up with a 200mm just as the older gentleman passed me, then shot from a low angle. To me the image is about attitudes. It asks you to consider homeless people just as the passer by appears to be with his glance. There are multiple readings, as with many photographs. Heavy with middle class guilt, I stuffed some change into the homeless guy’s hand when I finally passed him.
August witnessed the ever colourful Pride Cymru carnival through Cardiff City Centre. Equally colourful was the Tour of Britain passing from Wales to England in September and the Cardiff Half Marathon in October.
Picture by Mark Hawkins/Composed Images
Picture by Mark Hawkins/Composed Images
[Read the Composed piece: Cardiff Half Marathon]
September also saw a new sporting subject. The Premier League of Darts event at the Motorpoint Arena was won, almost inevitably, by Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor.
Picture by Mark Hawkins/Composed Images
Picture by Mark Hawkins/Composed Images
In a convincing start to their FIFA World Cup 2018 qualification campaign Wales easily saw off Moldova, thanks in no small part to the contribution of one Gareth Bale. Since that match however, progress has been considerably less smooth, with a number of disappointingly drawn matches reining in the summer optimism.
Regular professional football coverage was complemented by several visits to the BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park for a number of Guinness PRO12 rugby matches.
Picture by Mark Hawkins/Composed Images
In the news again was Welsh footballer Ched Evans, as his rape retrial came to Cardiff Crown Court in early October, when he was cleared of all charges.
In December the intensely frenetic game of Futsal was sampled as the inaugural home nations championship came to Cardiff, which was won by Wales.
Picture by Mark Hawkins/Composed Images
Picture by Mark Hawkins/Composed Images
My attendance of the Christmas Cracker 10K run at Cottrell Park Golf Club was strictly in the role of supporting my wife. But I took a camera and the dog and was rewarded with a beautifully misty, atmospheric scene.
Picture by Mark Hawkins
On Christmas Eve Eve I visited Ty Hafan children’s hospice in the Vale of Glamorgan. Santa Claus was given a lift by Wales Air Ambulance to see the children. Once again, it was heartwarming to see and photograph. Amidst all the depressing cynicism 2016 brought, it was great to end with some undeniable Christmas magic.
Thanks for reading. Please get in touch if you need any photography services in 2017.