Stunning images of a very Welsh restoration in human nature

More than 900 miles of coastline, 70 days and a restoration of faith in human nature have gone into making photographer Gareth Phillips’ stunning series, Hiraeth. Gareth came by the studio last week to show his work, and to tell us the wonderful story of how, following a vicious attack out in Cardiff, he set off alone to walk the length of the coastline of his Wales homeland. In the middle of winter. The idea, he says, was to “explore what my homeland of Wales meant to me in relation to the Welsh word hiraeth.”

Gareth explains: “Hiraeth is a Welsh word that has no direct English translation but is often defined as a kind of homesickness or memory tinged with grief or sadness. A mix of longing, yearning or wistfulness for a place, person or memory of the past. A nostalgic reflection or memory that often invokes melancholy, as the reflection or memory is one of elation and happiness of a place or loved one that can often never be felt again.”

On Gareth’s pilgrimage, he slept in hand-made shelters and tents in people’s gardens, occasionally treating himself to a stay in a very remote B&B. He tells us that bar one person, everyone he asked on his travels for a place to pitch his tent for the night was receptive, warm and understanding. His faith in human nature was duly restored.

The resulting images seem to somehow distil this abstract feeling of “hiraeth,” as well as a very personal journey through some incredibly beautiful, if sometimes hostile, environs. The black and white images are imbued with a sense of wide-eyed fascination with what makes Wales what it is, and what makes the people who live there who they are, too.