Howard Denner — Georgetown, Merthyr Tydfil 1971–1974
Howard Denner — Georgetown, Merthyr Tydfil 1971–1974
36 pages
printed in England
staple bound
14cm x 20cm
In the 18th century my home town of Merthyr Tydfil was the biggest town in Wales and held the largest ironworks in the world. One of the Ironmaster families built an area of the town for their workers called Georgetown. In the 1960s a huge programme of redevelopment began in the town and by 1970 it was the turn of Georgetown for demolition & redevelopment. In 1971 I began a photographic project to record the area. I continued during demolition until 1974 despite having moved to London by that time.
In London I used to help out hanging exhibitions at the Half Moon Gallery in Whitechapel. The Director, Ron McCormick, saw my Georgetown photographs and offered me an exhibition there in January 1974. It was favourably reviewed by Euan Duff in The Guardian and I was delighted when Roger Mayne bought several prints.
Now, 50 years on, I have approached the authorities in Merthyr to hold an exhibition of these photographs. They have agreed to hold an exhibition in The Redhouse Arts Centre during the whole of September and October 2023.
Howard Denner, 2023
