Fashion students help inspire budding young photographers

Fashion students at the University of South Wales (USW) have featured in an S4C programme which sees budding young photographers battle it out to become the next big name in the industry.

Y Galeri Luniau is a Welsh language show following talented youngsters as they travel around Wales to take on various challenges set by presenter Leah Gaffey, accompanied by professional photographers.

Episode 2 took four competitors – Casi, Charlie, Dan and Gracie – to USW’s Cardiff campus for the fashion photography challenge, where they met photographer Betsan Evans, and Fashion Promotion students Kitty Williams, Anna Naish, Vittorio Olivari, and McCalldin Lambert.

After a masterclass from Betsan on connecting with people and directing them to capture their best angles, the competitors got to work in the Fashion photography studio, where the students modelled second hand outfits as part of USW’s partnership with Oxfam Cymru.

Following a fast-paced 10-minute shoot with each of the photographers, Anna and Vittorio helped choose the winning image – taken by Casi – which will be displayed in Oxfam shop windows across Wales, encouraging people to buy second hand clothes rather than contribute to the rising environmental impact of fast fashion.

Anna Naish, 18, from Cardiff, is a first year Fashion Promotion student at USW and was interviewed on the programme. She said: “My experience on Y Galeri Luniau was amazing. I had so much fun modelling and helping to judge the final images.

“It was also exciting to be able to use the Welsh language to hopefully inspire the next generation of photographers and creatives in the fashion industry, while helping the language to thrive. It was important for us to show the young people our fantastic facilities – they really enjoyed using the professional equipment and can hopefully take that knowledge into their future projects.”

Elin Jones, Series Producer at Boom Cymru, makers of Y Galeri Luniau, added: “Giving young people opportunities to be creative is very important, by creating a safe space for them to experiment. They have such a desire to try and learn new things, and so the opportunity to come to the University and collaborate with students in a professional studio was a real eye opener. We hope that it will spur them on to continue in creative fields in the future.

“The media and the creative industries more broadly are thriving in Wales, and the ability to speak and communicate in Welsh is a particularly useful resource. It was lovely to be able to interview USW’s Fashion students in the programme, giving them a platform to discuss their passion for the industry in the Welsh language. Hopefully they will have a positive influence on anyone who hopes to use more of their Welsh or start their journey of learning Welsh.”

The full episode of Galeri Luniau is available to watch on BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0n1j2ny/y-galeri-luniau-pennod-2