New book celebrates the carnival in Tumble
A CARMARTHENSHIRE photographer has launched a new book celebrating the much-loved village carnival in the Tumble community that he grew up in.
After an absence of almost two decades the carnival returned in 2017 and documentary photographer Huw Alden Davies decided to not only point his lens at those taking part but also immerse himself in the experience, bringing along nine fellow photographers for the ride.
The two-year photojournalism project explored what can be achieved when people come together – and the result is Huw’s new book Carnifal.
The project had been planned to document a few years of the carnival but was halted in its tracks with 2019 being the last carnival before the Covid-19 pandemic hit – which itself saw how communities and society came together – albeit for very different reasons in a time of crisis.
The Tumble carnival had been a fixture in people’s calendars for over five decades but by the 1990s it started to decline and in the summer of 1998, the village was to see its last parade.
However, after a hiatus of almost 20 years, Tumble once again welcomed the carnival back to its streets and Huw was poised to capture every aspect of it.
Huw, who is also programme director of the BA Photography course and lecturer at the Carmarthen School of Art, said: “The Carnifal project was a reaction to the notion that ‘society is dead’, instead it celebrated community and I hope that is conveyed in the book I have published.
“Having documented my home village for the past decade, when I heard there was going to be another carnival in Tumble, I had to do something a little different to celebrate its return.
“Therefore, combining a blend of styles and visions, I invited an ensemble of image makers to join me in the quest to document the carnival in a way that it had never been seen before. Its result truly captures the spirit.
“The carnival, a social celebration that has been part of its culture for over 50 years in the Gwendraeth Valley, was once the highlight of the summer, bringing together every corner of every community, year after year in a festival of floats and marching bands.”
Dr Paul Cabuts, known for his photography examining the visual history of the South Wales Valleys, provided essays to go along with the photos in Carnifal.
His opening words of the 128-page
book wonderfully sets the scene: “Ten o’clock in the morning, Cross Hands, a click of photographers meet to plan the day. Directions given; cameras checked, pixels and film all correct, off to Y Tymbl to document the Carnifal, so all can see and hear, the colours, joy and a few tears.”
Joining Huw on the project were photographers Abby Poulson, Dan Staveley, Dorian Cabba, Gwyn Edwards, Jason Thomas, Jazz Guise, Mohamed Hassan, Peter Finnemore and Sal Nordan.
The book launch of Canifal coincides with a wider exhibition with excerpts of Huw’s previous work which spans more than 15 years under the umbrella title of The Last Valley, which runs until May 14 at Carmarthen’s Oriel Myrddin Gallery.
It features elements of his other projects all looking at Tumble, its culture, community and what makes it tick, from the self-titled solely photography based Y Tumble to the all encompassing media of photography, video and live streaming of later projects.
Prince explored his dad’s eccentricities, while Y Broncs retraced the ways of life in the area before the age of the internet. With Xennial, Huw explored what it was like for youngsters forging an identity in the ’80s and early ’90s as the digital revolution captured their imagination.
Huw will be doing a talk about The Last Valley and the visual and cultural identity of the Gwendraeth Valley at Oriel Myrddin Gallery on Thursday, May 12, between 5.30pm and 7pm.