Roger Tiley

The closure of so many pits in the South Wales Valleys left many communities in a state of turmoil and poverty. Some have survived by adapting – tourism, second homes, valley exiles returning to retirement. But where there is no local work at a pit or factory, a school closure means the death of a village. It is this sad state of atrophy in the community which motivated Roger Tiley’s photographic work. With an abruptness and finality he summed up the situation which faced these communities: “I have lived in the valleys all my life. A lot of my family were miners, but like many others our connection with the industry has finished.” But there is little nostalgia, sentimentality or even romance in his photographs.