Old Garage at Llanrug

I was travelling back from the North Wales Photographic Award ceremony yesterday when I noticed that the garage door at Llanrug was open. You may wonder why that was important? Simply the garage is unique  in that it is relatively unchanged after a 100 years.  It has been photographed many times, including myself and indeed I met Paul Miller from a camera club in Birmingham who was also taking pictures of the building. What was significant to me was that I hoped to meet the owner! I did, who is Dylwyn Parry Jones and is the third generation of the family to own and work in the garage.  He told me that his grandfather was there during the great war serving petrol even before there were pumps.  It was a real pleasure to meet him and talk about such a famous landmark.  He was kind enough to allow me to do a mini photoshoot of him in his garage.

But before we get into the shoot I just wanted to show you why this place is important to me. The image above used his garage as a backdrop and has been my most successful to date and has been accepted into the 155th Royal Photographic Society print exhibition. I have found that my objectives and motivations in photography are evolving all the time and I find that I am moving away from competition photography and more toward documenting people and places in North Wales.

Dylwyn stands outside his garage context shot that connects him to the building.

Then I wanted to get a sequence with him in a more prominent position. I particularly like this mono version standing next to his pumps.

I then wanted to do something a little different with the flashgun. I was looking for a subdued background with a fill flash to make him more prominent. The standard pose with Dylwyn slightly turned toward me with his right hand shoulder turned away and leading the viewer towards the building.  He stands well forward and cuts the horizon making him the focal point.  I like the crossed arms.

We then moved inside the garage and what a fascinating place it was.  The clutter had built up over years and it was great to see that it is still a working garage. I simply wanted to capture him in his working environment.  We then moved into his workshop and that was a treat.

I loved it in there with the accumulation of mechanical bits and bobs over the workbench.  Once again he was happy to work with me.  He even chuckled to himself at the state of the workshop. I then wanted to get a closer portrait shot of Dylwyn himself.

This final image focuses on the person and a little less on the environment.  As I was taking it I noticed the Ted Baker t-shirt and asked if he had any overalls as that would be more relevant to his work.  Ironically he told me that he did not work in them and wore whatever was clean.  The images document him as he  was and I kind of like the branded t-shirt.  I was really pleased to get this little sequence and to find out a little bit of the history of the garage and his family.  This is what I enjoy about photography, the ability to meet interesting people and attempt to capture them in their place.