Welsh photographer aiming for nationwide images award glory

Stephen Price

A celebrated Welsh photographer is within the working for one of many UK’s most prestigious images prizes, and is looking on the Welsh public to lend her their votes.

Joann Randles, from Carmarthen, is considered one of Wales’ most enjoyable younger photographers, whose work paperwork Welsh people, dance and tradition at present,

Joanne has been shortlisted within the coveted UK Picture Editors Guild Awards – persevering with her quest to doc Wales in all its variety, this time specializing in the nation’s vibrant Ukrainian neighborhood.

The image is considered one of 21 chosen by a panel of judges from which the general public can vote for his or her {photograph} of the yr on the annual awards ceremony.

Joann’s picture captures a stoic portrait of 15-year-old Ukrainian refugee Mariia-Anastasiia Mikulska forward of Ukraine’s thirty fourth Independence Day on August 24, 2025.

Celebrations in Kyiv had been naturally subdued on the time, with solely official ceremonies deliberate on account of ongoing safety threats.

Around the world, displaced Ukrainians like 15-year-old Mariia-Anastasiia Mikulska and her mom, Natalia, now dwelling in Wales after fleeing Lviv, noticed the day removed from residence in Swansea, the place Joann captured the now well-known picture.

“For us, Independence Day is the greatest holiday, says Natalia. We lost so much, but found safety and support here. That, too, is a small victory.” Though separated from family members, together with two sons nonetheless in Ukraine, Natalia provides, “Against the background of all the tragic things that led us here, we are still happy this is also a small victory over the enemy who wanted to destroy us all, scare us, and deprive us of our future.”

The shortlist additionally consists of a number of poignant footage illustrating main moments in 2025, together with the aftermath of the terrorist assault at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Manchester in October.

Other works embody migrants getting ready to board a dinghy to cross the English Channel from France, protesters waving Union and St George’s England flags through the Unite The Kingdom rally in central London final September, and 89-year-old Ursula Pethick being arrested for displaying messages of help for Palestine Action in a Parliament Square protest final August.

A photograph of golf star Rory McIlroy celebrating after successful the Ryder Cup was additionally included, in addition to a picture that includes the Princess of Wales and a snap of Larry the Cat at 10 Downing Street throughout Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s assembly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Rounding out the checklist was a photograph of 89-year-old Ursula Pethick being arrested on the Palestine Action protest in August, and an image taken at Pope Francis’ funeral.

Joann informed Nation Cymru: “I’m completely delighted to be shortlisted within the ‘Picture of the Year’ class on the UK Picture Editors’ Guild Awards 2026.

“Finding out I had been shortlisted got here as an entire shock and I couldn’t be prouder. To have my work recognised amongst so many excellent press photographers from throughout the UK is extremely rewarding.

“Photography is all about capturing moments and telling stories, so it means a great deal to have this image acknowledged by such a respected panel of picture editors and industry professionals.”

Passion

Joann Randles confirmed her newest physique of labor on the National Botanic Garden of Wales again in April, bringing collectively an exhibition of shifting pictures depicting Welsh cultural life in all its potent magnificence.

Randles is famously the primary photographic journalist to have represented Wales on the Festival Interceltique Lorient, and her shifting photos had been proven as a part of the EuroCeltic Art exhibition, on the Palais des Congrès within the centre of Lorient in 2025. She is a multi award-winning Welsh press photographer primarily based in Swansea, identified for her compelling portraiture and evocative storytelling.

Born in Carmarthen and raised alongside the Pembrokeshire shoreline in Tenby and Saundersfoot, Joann’s artistic roots run deep. Her ardour for the humanities started in early childhood and has since developed into a particular profession that not solely champions Welsh identification but in addition elevates press images to an expressive and clever self-discipline.

With a household lineage that stretches again generations in Wales, Joann’s connection to her homeland is intrinsic to her work. Her photographic observe displays a profound sense of place, tradition, and heritage, celebrating the richness of Welsh life via highly effective visible narratives.

Working predominantly on location and infrequently in difficult circumstances, Joann operates solo on her photoshoots, mastering pure and synthetic gentle with the precision of a painter.

A defining characteristic of Joann’s work is her specialist position as knowledgeable press photographer, a area that calls for not solely inventive imaginative and prescient but in addition rigorous adherence to journalistic ethics, making her a perfect candidate for a documenter of Wales at present.

Unlike many types of up to date images, the place digital manipulation is commonplace, press photos should keep factual integrity. This implies that all of Joann’s portraits captured totally in-camera. Only minimal post-processing changes are permitted, reminiscent of refined color correction, cropping, and elimination of mud spots.

This restriction locations a premium on technical ability, precision, and timing. Joann should “get it right in-camera” within the second, counting on her mastery of lighting, composition, and topic engagement, usually below intense time strain or unpredictable environmental circumstances.

It is that this dedication to fact, paired with an unmistakably inventive eye, that makes her work so distinctive throughout the press images style.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Joann expanded her visible storytelling observe, bringing her background in filmmaking into sharper focus via nonetheless imagery. Her placing pictures from this era gained vast recognition, and her work has since been exhibited in famend establishments such because the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), and featured in main nationwide and worldwide media shops.

Joann is very celebrated for her ongoing work documenting Welsh people dance and the cultural lifetime of Wales. Her portraits vibrantly specific the traditions, identities, and communities of her nation, making Welsh tradition accessible to world audiences via the common language of visible storytelling.

Voting for the award closes at midday on June 10 and the winner might be introduced on June 30. Votes may be solid at pictureeditorsguildawards.co.uk

See extra of Joann’s work here or through Instagram.