Church of Coal
Winner AOP Student Awards 2026
““All three judges were really taken with the narrative maturity and sensitivity of this series. It was a glorious use of both black and white imagery for true visual storytelling””
In collaboration with the NUM (National Union of Miners) in Pontypridd, and the National Museum Wales, this project has taken me across South Wales, in search of answers to my question: what happened to the miners; what happened to the collieries; and how have they both adapted in the 21st century.
Hearing their stories, and documenting them as they are now, has allowed me a glimpse into the real people and places, to understand what really happened and what a select few have done to overcome the crisis that rocked much of industrial Britain. As with their age now, there is not much time left before these people fade into obscurity and out of the public mind, much like the ruins of the halls and mines they once worked.
