Everything Changes / Everything Stays the Same

The title for the exhibition comes from a statement by the French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, who in 1849 wrote “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose” – the more things change, the more they stay the same. This statement suggests a passive approach, indicating that we either opt not to change, believing that our actions won't make a difference, or we embrace change, understanding that without it, nothing will ever improve.

I thought that the concept of Everything Changes / Everything Stays The Same was worth exploring in the context of the gallery being shut for improvements, only to reopen and look exactly the same.

Photography is a relatively modern medium. Its roots lie in the camera obscura, a device used for centuries to project images, but the ability to capture and preserve them permanently emerged in the early 1800s with inventions like the daguerreotype and calotype, paving the way for modern photography. The first digital camera was invented in the 1970s, and the first mobile phone camera appeared in Japan in 1999, with the first iPhone released in 2007. In this way we sometimes take photographs for granted, but they have been capturing moments in time since the mid-1800s.

These images allow us to see how things have changed, but also how things remain. Fundamentally as humans we remain the same, we want to spend time on our own, time with friends, doing things together, creating a nice community. We go shopping, we play sports, we listen to music, we like animals, we like to show our latest things, we create memories. Many of these will stay hidden for years until someone finds them one day and says look how young you were, there’s my relative who passed away years ago, that’s one of those thingummies that we used to have, do you remember that pet dog? These moments for many older generations would have been “Kodak Moments”, a family gathering, a holiday adventure, or some personal event, or perhaps they were recording collective history for the local newspaper. Sadly, with the advance of new technology Kodak, who created the Brownie in 1900 and who introduced the DCS (Digital Camera System) in 1991, filed for bankruptcy in 2012. They now focus on industrial printing. Everything changes…

The places we know and live in have been recorded for posterity on film. Some places are hard to locate, others look exactly the same, most, like the people we know have changed a bit but we can basically still see who they are. When the photographers from the national collections were taking their photographs, for example John Thomas capturing the arrival of a train at the Railway Station in Machynlleth in 1885, the train had been coming to the station since 1863. This brough the railway from Newtown and was overseen by the industrialist David Davies, grandfather of the Davies Sisters. There had been an earlier station in Machynlleth for the Corris Railway which opened in 1859, the station closed in 1948, but you can still see the station building at the entrance to Dyfi Eco Park. In 1864 all of the small companies who had built railways across mid Wales became the Cambrian Railways Company. This was taken over in 1923 by the Great Western Railway. We know that in a few years time, after the photograph was taken a box was placed at the station where travellers could leave their newspapers, and these were shared with inmates of the Machynlleth Workhouse. 25 years after the photo was taken David Lloyd Jones was run over by one of the trains, just after his life insurance policy ran out. The Cambrian Railways agreed to pay his wife a compensation as she had two small children to bring up. He was just 31. Many of those who worked at the station and on the railway would join the forces in 1914-18 30 years after the photograph was taken. An engine cleaner who died in the Middle East, a booking clerk who died in the Battle of Gaza in March 1917. In December 1914 a group gathered on the same platform to welcome two families who had been invited from German-occupied Belgium to live in Machynlleth. Today we have Transport for Wales trains arriving at the same platform.

In PB Abery’s photograph of Newtown from the 1890s we can see clearly the view from the clock tower up Broad Street towards Long Bridge and Crescent Street. It’s market day, stalls are set up along Broad Street and people are walking around, there are some children with sticks herding a cow, two boys have seen the camera and are posing in the foreground, and there’s another cow. Everyone is wearing a hat. You can see where Specsavers is today. The left-hand side has changed, but it’s not unrecognisable, it looks familiar. Where the Regent Cinema is today, I can see a sign for English Opera, so it was obviously a place of public entertainment even then, and where the roundabout is, on the other side of the bridge, there’s a single gaslight. I can see a huge mill on Commercial Street. It was a steam-powered, handloom mill No 5. Up on the hill, Bryn Gardens looks exactly the same.

We gave copies of photos by Geoff Charles and Don Griffiths to Emma Beynon and Grug Muse. They then worked with local writers to explore what the images triggered for them. These pieces of writing will become part of the exhibition, but they were also sent to animated film maker, Gemma Green Hope, who has used them to create a new film, narrated by Casi Wyn. The writers have also been on a trip to the National Library where they had an introduction to the collections.

As part of the CELF development we commissioned photographer Mohamed Hassan to take portraits of people in Newtown today. This process was documented in a short film by Ellie Orrell. The work provides an interesting document of the everyday lives of people in the town.

We have also commissioned new writing from Dylan Huw and Jason Jones in response to the work of Tom Cardew (Machynys Forgets Itself) and Paul R Jones (Rites of Way). These works were shown as part of our Pop-Up series prior to closure.

With the concept of “everything changes, everything stays the same” in mind, we embarked on a major investment from Welsh Government to make the gallery fit for purpose to accept major loans over the next 20 years. We knew that this would not provide much opportunity for major visible change at the gallery, and we have had three major loans in the past 4 years, but it became clear that we needed to look at major repairs and refurbishment including the roof, the largest single expanse of the gallery building. It’s been in place for over 25 years and was starting to fail in places. We knew this as we were starting to have leaks inside the building. Ideally, we’d like to see the whole building developed, of course, including a new learning studio, outdoor spaces, improved shop, cafe and toilets, but these things take time. We’d like to change other parts of the building and planning for more development is currently at an early stage. Welsh Government wanted to establish a network of galleries that could showcase works from the national collection to communities across Wales and budget was put in place with the specific aim of creating a dispersed model National Contemporary Art Gallery for Wales. With that in mind we are now part of CELF. The aim of CELF is to share works by contemporary artists from the collection.

What do we mean by Contemporary?

Oriel Davies works with contemporary artists always. These are in the main artists working today. Contemporary within an art history context means art created in the late 20^th Century to the present day, often characterised by innovation and reflecting the complex issues of our global, rapidly changing world. It encompasses a wide range of styles including Pop Art, Abstract Expressionism, Minimalism, and Conceptual Art.

What do we mean by Modern?

Modernism in art history covers the period of the late Nineteenth Century and the early Twentieth Century. The art produced in this period marked a significant departure from traditional styles and values, rather in the same way that Contemporary Art did from the late Twentieth Century onwards. It can include art produced within the period roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and in this way, there is a cross over between Modern and Contemporary Art (1945-1970s). Significant Modern Art styles include Impressionism, Expressionism, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art! These diverse movements are unique in their styles, media and influence.

How have we changed? Have we changed?

As part of the CELF partnership, and as a next step for us, we hope to bring works from the Davies Sisters Collections back to Newtown to allow us to celebrate the unique contribution two women from mid Wales made on the art world and explore how their legacy continues to influence future generations of artists.

We are interested in working with contemporary artists whose work connects with historical art, as could be seen in our National Gallery partnerships 2021-2023. Where we showcased contemporary artists in response to historical pieces by Verrocchio, Rembrandt and Chardin.

Oriel Davies was built originally in 1967 as the Davies Memorial Gallery designed by RIBA President Alex Gordon, with a bequest from Margaret Davies, one of the Davies Sisters of Gregynog. Margaret and Gwendoline collected art in the early to mid-Twentieth Century. When the sisters’ collections were given to the nation they raised the profile of the National Museum in Cardiff significantly to an international level, including important works by Turner, Monet, Cezanne, and Renoir, alongside significant British modernist painters such as Vanessa Bell and Christopher Wood.

Oriel Davies, was originally called Oriel 31 (named after the premises at 31, High Street, Welshpool) and was established in 1982, before moving to the Davies Memorial Gallery in 1985 and was renamed Oriel Davies Gallery in 2003. The gallery underwent two phases of redevelopment in 2002-2004 including the new cafe and reflective facias introduced by B3Burgess.

What has actually changed?

Oriel Davies has a complete new roof system, with additional insulation that makes it more energy efficient, we’ve replaced some of the glazed units which had failed, we’ve increased security across the site, and we’ve installed new air handling systems. To most people, the gallery will look the same, but the work has been extensive and we hope to show more as the year progresses.

The main change will be that we now have an established relationship for ongoing work with the National Library and The National Museum.

Biographical Notes

John Thomas (1838-1905)

John Thomas was a labourer's son from Cellan, Ceredigion. In 1853 he moved to Liverpool to work in a draper's shop. Over a period of ten years the work had a detrimental effect on his health and he was forced to find employment in the open air. Therefore, at the beginning of the 1860s, he became a traveller for a firm dealing in writing materials and photographs of famous people. At that time publishing and selling small photographs of celebrities (carte-de-visite photographs) was a very lucrative business. When he realised how few of the photographs he had to sell were of Welsh celebrities he undertook to change things himself.

He learnt the rudiments of photography and in 1863 he began taking photographs of the famous by inviting a number of well-known preachers to sit for their portraits. The enterprise was a success and by 1867 he was confident enough to establish his own photographic business, The Cambrian Gallery. He worked as a photographer for about forty years, and during that time he travelled widely in north, mid and south Wales taking photographs of landscapes as well as people.

When he retired from business a collection of over three thousand of his negatives was bought by Sir O M Edwards to illustrate the magazine Cymru. John Thomas had worked with OM for many years by supplying him with illustrations and articles for the magazine. OM paid the following tribute to him for help in illustrating the magazine, "... you can well understand my joy in receiving an offer of help from Mr John Thomas, in his own modest style. I knew that no-one has such a complete collection of views of Welsh historic sites. Whenever he visits a particular area, he adds to his collection the picturesque, famous or unusual that he finds there. His rich gallery has been made available to me to use with the warmest of welcomes... It is good to know that the Cambrian Gallery contains a collection of views from nearly every part of Wales, and of the characters who lived in those parts in recent years." (Translated from Welsh, Cymru 17 (1899), p.134)

John Thomas died in October 1905.

Today the negatives which O M Edwards bought from John Thomas form part of the photographic collection of the National Library of Wales.

Biographical Notes

PB Abery (1876-1948)

Before his death in 1948 Percy Benzie Abery selected 1580 of his glass negatives and gifted them to the National Library of Wales.

P B Abery was born in Folkestone, one of eleven children. In 1898 he bought a small photography business in Builth Wells and continued in business for half a century. By 1911 the business had grown sufficiently to allow him to move to the West End Studio. Darkrooms were placed in the basement, the shop on the ground floor, a workshop for framing and mounting on the first floor and the studio on the top to take advantage of daylight.

During the summer months P B Abery was a familiar site on his bicycle, with camera and tripod on his back, as he kept busy photographing groups of visitors as they took the waters in both Builth Wells and nearby Llandrindod. The following morning groups would gather round the shop window ‘like bees around a honeypot’ looking for pictures of themselves. Later the bicycle gave way to a motorcycle and side car and in 1928 his first car, a baby Austin.

Apart from photographing groups of visitors Abery was always quickly on the scene to photograph any newsworthy event, prints of which were sent off with great haste to the daily papers in London. Announcing his death the Daily Mail described him as ‘one-time ace press photographer.’ When photographing weddings, he would prepare a set of proofs ready for the bride and groom to view at their reception. He was also appointed official photographer by the Birmingham Water Works during construction of the Elan Valley Dams.

At some point PB Abery acquired several glass negatives from another local photographer, Robert Newton Heywood of Knighton (1877-1935). A number of these are included here, distinguishable by his distinctive written captions, often with ‘CT. HK’ added, abbreviation for Copyright, Heywood Knighton.

Before the Kodak Brownie became a household item a trip to the photographer’s studio would be made for any number of reasons - engagement, christening, graduation, coming of age etc. Troops leaving the tranquillity of Mid Wales for the trenches in the First World War would often have their portraits taken in uniform as a keepsake for their loved ones. This side of the business slackened off after the First World War with the rise of the Kodak Brownie. However, this became another opportunity for the enterprising photographer and soon the developing and printing side of the business took off. A film brought in by 10am was ready for collection by five o’clock that afternoon.

Biographical Notes

Geoff Charles (1909-2002)

Geoff Charles' contribution to Welsh photography is unique. His approach is characterised by both an innate talent and an empathy for his subjects.

He worked as a photojournalist in Wales from the 1930s to the 1970s and was the photographer of record in Welsh-speaking Wales for most of that period. Today his archive is one of the treasures of The National Library of Wales.

Who was Geoff Charles?

Geoff Charles was born in Brymbo in 1909. He studied for a Diploma in Journalism at the University of London, from where he graduated with first class honours in 1928. For a short period he worked as a reporter for the Western Mail covering dirt track racing, greyhounds and inquests. Subsequently he covered court cases and council meetings for the Mountain Ash and Aberdare Express before moving to Guildford to work on the Surrey Advertiser. He later returned home following a serious bout of illness to work on the Wrexham Star, a paper established on a shoestring budget in February 1934. The paper was sold at a penny by street vendors and aimed to undercut the Wrexham Leader which sold for twopence. Shortly after joining the Wrexham Star he reported on the Gresford Colliery Disaster. Having gained access to the lamp room, he ascertained that the official figure of 100 men underground was an understatement. Armed with this information, he rushed out a special edition of the paper.

Moving to work on Y Cymro

Ironically an economic upturn spelled the end of the Wrexham Star as many of its sales force found regular employment. It was whilst working for the Wrexham Star that Geoff bought his first camera, a VPK Thornton Pickard using 6 x 9 cm. (2.5 x 3.5 inch) glass plates. In March 1936 the paper was taken over and amalgamated with the Wrexham Advertiser. It was here that Geoff Charles, now a competent photographer, first met managing director, Rowland Thomas, and impressed him sufficiently to be offered management of the photographic section of Woodalls Newspapers. He shortly afterwards moved to Newtown to run the Montgomeryshire Express where he encountered a promising young reporter called John Roberts Williams for whom he was to illustrate stories for Y Cymro. Occasional work for Y Cymro started in 1937 when the Reverend Lewis Valentine was interviewed shortly before being imprisoned for his part in the symbolic burning of the Penyberth Bombing School. His connection with Y Cymro almost ceased during the war years when he served on the Demonstration sub-committee of the Montgomeryshire War Agricultural Executive Committee helping to implement improved farming practices. Much of his material from this era was destroyed in a fire.

His work for Y Cymro resumed in earnest after the war when John Roberts Williams was appointed editor. Their work soon surpassed any other photojournalism hitherto seen in Wales. Geoff Charles is also quick to cite Picture Post as an influence at this time. The image of the farmer-poet Carneddog and his wife forced to leave their farm in the Carneddau Mountains due to the death of their son is his best known work. Perhaps no other photograph has taken hold of the Welsh imagination as did this. So deeply did it penetrate the Welsh psyche that in many homes it was pinned up alongside Curnow Vosper's "Salem". Over this period his work recorded far more than events and personalities; piece by piece, photo by photo a vanished way of life is revealed: witness the farmhands living in the lloft stabl, the postman delivering letters on horseback or the old quarryman demonstrating the car gwyllt. The arrival of electricity in remote villages, a new militancy in the campaign for recognition of the Welsh language and the effects of mechanisation in agriculture are all recorded in his work.

Biographical Notes

Don “The Flash” Griffiths

Don Griffiths was a professional photographer in Newtown employed by the Montgomeryshire Express and associated publications. He was taking pictures from Rhyl to Brecon between the 1960s and the 1990s. Many of the items are of considerable interest both locally and wider afield as they represent a snapshot of life in the communities of Montgomeryshire during an era of sociological and technological change. The work as a whole provides an overview of life in Newtown, Welshpool, Llanidloes and surrounding rural areas during the mid 1960s. This collection of around 3500 negatives represents the output of 1964.