At various times Wales has been the worlds largest exporter of copper, iron, slate and coal. As
the raw materials were extracted from the ground, much of its wealth was taken from the country. What
remains is a post industrial landscape that often appears a shadow of its more heroic past, the scars of the
extraction still evident within the land. More economically and politically subordinate than the other
Celtic nations, Wales can be seen as England’s first and last colony; struggling with both its economic base
and its sense of identity. Tesco and tourism are the big employers now, low paid and insecure. The work
explores the contrasting realities of the tourist landscape and that experienced by most inhabitants, as the
images move between tourist hot spots and the terraces and back streets where the majority of people live.
The latter are often hard bitten places that have lost their raison d’etre. By contrast the tourist
landscape is one of pleasure seeking and escape, the Wales that visitors are sold and want to see.