Cardi Arcades
AMY SAYS: ‘This year marks the tenth anniversary of the project I’m perhaps most proud of. After experimenting with short-lived and shallow projects, in 2011 I set about undertaking something that would allow me to go more in-depth and that I could really sink my teeth into.
‘Cardiff has a set of Victorian and Edwardian shopping arcades, all located within the city centre. Not only are they fine examples of architecture from the period, but also the shops found there are generally independently owned and often quirky in nature. A project on shopkeepers is a common one to tackle, but given the vast scope of opportunities presented here – plus easy access (I lived quite close by at the time), it seemed like a great choice for me.
‘Once I started to speak to people about the project, and make connections within the arcades, things progressed quite rapidly. Soon, I had set up a website for the project and was organising regular photoshoots. As a journalist as well as a photographer, a typical session would involve interviewing a subject, taking a portrait, and photographing their shop. Each shoot would be collated together into an individual website post.
‘I soon discovered a real sense of community, and once I found myself almost within it, my personal and photographic confidence levels soared. As a result of the project, I was featured in the local press, one of my images was used as a magazine cover and I even secured a weekly column writing about it for The Guardian website. A few months into the project I had the opportunity to be exhibited as part of a group project, and later, my website would go on to win an award, too.
‘After a while the project became a little all-encompassing and I found myself having to wind it down, but I’ll always take away a huge amount of pride from everything that was possible thanks to that piece of work – this year I hope to find time to revisit it for the anniversary.’