Work by USW Photography celebrated in momentous new book

Images from the University of South Wales’ Photography courses have been featured in The Story So Far – a new book tracing the remarkable 193-year history of Taylor Brothers, one of the UK’s oldest and most influential printers.

From letterpress posters to fine art editions, and numerous photobooks for an ever-expanding number of notable photographers, Taylor Brothers has helped shape our visual landscape – even playing a role in supporting the war effort when larger presses had fallen silent. The Story So Far is more than a company history; it is a portrait of a business deeply woven into our creative culture.

Published by VIKA, The Story So Far was officially launched at BOP (Books on Photography), the annual Photobook festival from the Martin Parr Foundation, held in Bristol on 11 and 12 October. The festival brings together a wide-ranging group of photobook publishers, artist talks, exhibitions, book launches and signings.

Peter Bobby, course leader for BA Photography at USW, said: “We greatly value our longstanding relationship with Taylor Brothers. Their generous support, guidance, creativity and considerable patience has facilitated literally hundreds of students to be featured over the years, many of whom have gone onto carve out notable careers in photography and the broader creative industries. We look forward to continuing this relationship for many years to come, introducing our future students to fine print, design and exceptional book making.”

Since 2008, Photography at USW has celebrated the work of graduating students through a series of ambitious and playful catalogues. Each publication documents the creative and conceptual achievements of the students, presenting diverse photographic practices and personal explorations of contemporary themes.

Working in close collaboration with Ian Mountjoy at Taylor Brothers, each catalogue provides a platform for emerging photographers to showcase their work and engage with the wider photographic community.

Titles include Epilogue, Have We Started Yet, Hole Punch, Leaving the Building, Looking for Missing Pieces and the 2025 publication, Waiting Room, which was also generously supported by one of the UK’s most significant and creative paper suppliers, GF Smith.

Each publication is meticulously designed by the students themselves, working in collaboration with course staff and more recently under the watchful eye and careful mentorship of USW Photography graduate and designer, Oliver Norcott, reflecting the distinctiveness of each graduating cohort. 

These publications have also provided opportunities to commission a number of external writers to contribute thoughtful and provocative framing texts, responding to the work of the students and times we live in.

These include texts by Mattie Colquhoun, 2014 & 2017 (USW Photography alumni who has written extensively on the work of Mark Fisher and published Narcissus in Bloom, an alternative history of the selfie in 2023), Ben Burbridge, 2009 (author of Photography After Capitalism), Joshua Jones, 2024 (author of Local Fires), Emma Geliot, 2019 (Writer/Editor), Sim Panasar, 2023 (Curator at Chapter Arts Centre), David Drake, 2014 (former Director of Ffotogallery), Laura Noble, 2021 (multidisciplinary artist, writer and curator), Molly Caenwyn, 2022 (photographer and photographic historian), Mark Durden, 2008 (writer and artist) and Lucy Smith, 2025 (writer), amongst others. 

Each also presents different technological challenges. Have We Started Yet (2016) required an accordion-style spine, with inside pages to be hand-glued by the students, then secured with a broad elastic binding; Mynd Fyny / Going Up (2018) was printed with a black line as a guide for hand-folding; and all 600 copies of Looking for Missing Pieces (2022) had to be hand-guillotined to create its unusual shape.

The publications are always printed using high-quality processes, ensuring precise reproduction of images. Sustainable materials, including recycled and FSC-certified paper, are often utilised to align with eco-conscious principles. The durable bindings are crafted to withstand frequent handling, making these ISBN numbered catalogues both functional and archival quality artefacts that live on for many years after each graduating cohort has gone onto pastures new.