Ron McCormick – Part 2

RON McCORMICK IN CONVERSATION WITH PAUL REAS CARDIFF, JUNE 2019 (released on the Ffoton podcast 8 September 2019) Part 2 of 3 Ron McCormick trained as an artist at Liverpool School of Art and the Royal Academy Schools in London before moving across to photography. He played a significant role in the formation and development of photography galleries across the UK in the 1970’s - including Half Moon Gallery in London, Side Gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne and the original Ffotogallery in Cardiff. Ron taught on the Newport Documentary Photography course alongside David Hurn and established ‘The Newport Survey’ publication that students worked on as part of their studies - produced over a decade in the 1980s. He was one of the first photographers to be commissioned by Ffotogallery to produce work for the highly regarded ‘Valleys Project’ in the 1980s and his documentary work of the changing landscape and communities in the south Wales valleys as coal mining disappeared in the region is considered to be some of the best produced. His work is held in the Arts Council Collection and in private collections. He has lived and worked in Newport since 1977 and continues to be an active member of the Newport art and photography scenes. A major exhibition of his south Wales work 'How Green was my Valley' will open at Newport Museum & Art Gallery on 21 September and run through to 14 March 2020. Recorded at the University of South Wales Atrium campus in Cardiff by Brian Carroll. Our thanks to DocPhot course leader Paul Reas for organising. A selection of Ron’s books are available via BigCartel on communimedia.bigcartel.com Gallery images © Ron McCormick and used with permission of the photographer. Podcast images © Brian Carroll 2019. Please note: Comments or views made by interview participants are their own and are NOT necessarily the views of the Ffoton Wales team. Also available on the Ffoton YouTube channel www.ffoton.wales Giving a voice to talented photographers across Wales since 2015. Follow us on BlueSky and Instagram @ffotonwales Made in Wales