I spend a lot of time photographing the Welsh landscape, but quite often it is the roads running through it that catch my attention just as much as the mountains themselves.
Wales is not short of scenic roads, with some running deep through valleys while others wind across open moorland or disappear into woodland, and the same road can look completely different depending on the season and weather. A quiet stretch of tarmac on a summer evening can become almost unrecognisable after snowfall, while in autumn even an ordinary road through the trees can become the subject of the photograph.
I’ve also always had a keen interest in motorsport, particularly rallying. While the winding roads through the mountains are part of the landscape I enjoy photographing, away from the tarmac, miles of gravel roads and forest tracks have helped make Wales a natural home for the sport.
Wales has a long association with rallying. The World Rally Championship last visited for Wales Rally GB in 2019, an event that regularly brought the world’s best drivers onto the gravel stages of Mid and North Wales. Although we’ve unfortunately lost the WRC since then, there is still plenty of top level competition taking place here. The British and Welsh Rally Championships and more local events continue to make extensive use of Welsh roads and forests.
For me, photographing a rally is completely different to standing on a mountain waiting for the right light. With landscape photography I can take my time, move around and wait for the conditions. At a rally, I might have a few seconds to get the shot before the car is gone and I’m stood waiting for the next one while covered in dust or mud.
Whether I’m photographing an empty road winding through the mountains or a rally car throwing dust into the air on a forest stage, the Welsh landscape is what connects the two for me.
I share more of my rally photography on Instagram, while most of my landscape work can be found on Facebook. You can also find both at morgsphotography.com.
