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'Ystumtuen' Ceredigion
© Ron Davies
Ron Davies - Photographer
A tribute to the master.
'Ever since I can remember I have thoroughly enjoyed being in the company of those who, by simply being who they are and doing what they do in the way they do it, reduce me to a state of uncharacteristic humility. To date there are very few who have succeeded in achieving this, but I am proud to admit that Ron Davies ranks among the highest on the list.
There have been numerous publications and exhibitions of Ron's work over the years and I am in no doubt there are many more to come. 'Byd Ron - Ron's World' however is a very special publication, as not only does it mark a major milestone in Ron's life, it must have been one of the most difficult and challenging selection and editing exercises
ever undertaken by a living artist. Ron Davies' studio, in Aberaeron, is literally littered with thousands of photographic images, large and small, colour and monochrome, covering a wide range of personal interest and spanning years and years of creative toil and artistic dedication.
'Sheep' - Ceredigion
© Ron Davies
His final selection of images will undoubtedly become one of the great collections of photographic images to be linked to Wales, as it tells a remarkable story, and takes us on a journey which most of us can only dream of - even more remarkable when we take into account the fact that last year Ron Davies "celebrated his 50th year in a wheelchair" (his words not mine).
With his natural inquisitiveness and journalistic roots it is not surprising that people and places are Ron's major source of inspiration - add an undercurrent of wicked humour, a healthy dose of political cynicism and an always present sense of artistic adventure, and you end up with a punchy and seductive artistic cocktail.
'Cader Idris'
© Ron Davies
To describe Ron Davies simply as a Welsh photographer would be to deny him his rightful place as a talented and clever teacher, and as a robust and no nonsense role model for others like him who suffer from severe physical disabilities.
"Mobility is my problem not ability", said Ron in a national conference on Equal Opportunities in the Arts, to which he had been invited as a delegate for mid and west Wales. Other delegates spoke for much longer periods - Ron said it all in less than ten seconds. It was he who spearheaded Arts Care/Gofal Celf's mobile disabled darkroom - the first of its kind and which has enabled hundreds of children and adults to taste and savour the experience of photography in areas where facilities simply did not exist.
We live in times when pointing and clicking our disposable-idiot-proof cameras makes for good photographs, or so we are led to believe. However Ron Davies' work serves as a salutary reminder that there is much more to photography than that, and that it is the character behind the camera that counts.
In my view the subject of this publication is not Ron Davies, rather it is the 'World of Ron Davies' - a world dominated by the people he has met, the places he has visited, and the Wales which he has loved and lived in for most of his life.
Thank you Ron, for lending us your eyes.
Carwyn Matera Rogers.
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RON DAVIES
"Byd Ron - Ron's World"
