Geoff Charles
Geoff Charles | |
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Photojournalist |
Geoff Charles (28 January 1909 – 7 March 2002)[2] was a Welsh photojournalist. His collection of over 120,000 images is being conserved and digitised by the National Library of Wales.[3]
Biography
Charles was born near Wrexham in the small community of Brymbo in 1909. He attended Grove Park School in Wrexham, where he was encouraged to study journalism by a teacher who observed that he had a talent for writing.[4]: p.2 He went on to study at the University of London, where he obtained a first-class diploma in journalism in 1928. He worked during the 1930s when the Depression meant that many found it difficult to get work. He worked on the Wrexham Star which was sold by unemployed people for a penny a copy. With his earnings he was able to buy his first Thornton-Pickard camera which used 3.5 x 2.5 inch glass plates.[3]
Charles was involved in one of the Wrexham Star's scoops when he was able to smuggle himself into the lamp room of
In March 1936, the Wrexham Star was taken over by the Wrexham Advertiser which worked out well for Charles. He was offered the position of leading the photography department of Woodalls Newspapers. He then left to manage the Montgomeryshire Express where he met a reporter called John Roberts Williams. The two of them later worked together on the Welsh language newspaper Y Cymro.,[3] and together filmed, produced and directed one of the first movies shot in Welsh (Yr Etifeddiaeth, “The Heritage”).
Charles spent the war years working to improve farming practices by improved information. After the war he again went to work for Y Cymro where John Roberts Williams was now editor.
Preservation of images
Charles's collection of 120,000 negatives was donated to the National Library of Wales where they remained safely until the 1990s when it was discovered that the
In August 2011, an exhibition of Geoff Charles's photographs was shown in Y Lle Celf (arts and crafts pavilion) at the Welsh National Eisteddfod in Wrexham.[12]
References
- tertiary source)
- ^ Troughton, William. "CHARLES, GEOFFREY (1909-2002), photographer.". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g "The Geoff Charles Photographic Collection". National Library of Wales. Archived from the original on 12 May 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
- ^ a b c Geoff Charles Archived 2012-12-16 at the Wayback Machine, William Troughton, Friend of the Library, Winter 2003, accessed July 2012
- ^ Book of Remembrance, Wrexham.gov.uk, accessed May 2012
- ^ Obituary: John Roberts Williams, The Independent, October 30, 2004
- ISBN 978-0862437343.
- ^ Owen, Robert. "Griffith, Richard 'Carneddog'". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
- ^ Geoff Charles (1909-2002) at Flickr
- ^ "Protest in Liverpool against the drowning of Capel Celyn (Tryweryn), 1956". Gathering the Jewels. Culturenet Cymru. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
- ^ National Library of Wales[permanent dead link] at page 15 of Europeana Proposal Part B (2011 Work Programme)
- ^ Finnemore, Peter; et al. "Geoff Charles's photos without the words". National Eisteddfod. Archived from the original on 14 April 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
Further reading
- Roberts, Ioan (2019). Geoff Charles - Wales and the borders : photographs of a lost way of life, 1940s-1970s. Tal-y-bont, Ceredigion: Y Lolfa. ISBN 9781912631193.
External links
- The Geoff Charles Collection on the National Library of Wales website
- Lewis, Emma (May 2013). "An interview with Peter Finnemore and Russell Roberts about their work with the Geoff Charles Archive". Photomonitor.
- Gower, Jon (4 April 2020). "Review: Geoff Charles – Wales and the Borders offers an illuminating portal into the past". Nation.Cymru.