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The stories of a community are often written in the faces of the people who call it home – and one photographer in Blackwood is setting out to prove just that.

Roger Donovan began his photography career straight out of school in 1973 as a 17-year-old freelancer with the now defunct Caerphilly Leader newspaper.

He said: “I was freelancing part-time, covering fetes and events, as I was actually training to be an accountant with the Coal Board- but that wasn’t really for me.

“I then managed to get a staff job with another weekly paper called The News, which was part of the South Wales Argus group. The staff I worked with on The Leader also moved over as The Argus had taken over part of the company that published The Leader.

“I stayed there for 12 years – which is way too long from a career point of view – but I really enjoyed what I was doing.”

From there, Roger’s career took him to some of the UK’s major regional titles. He spent six years at the Western Mail and Echo, where he became chief photographer, before moving to Aberdeen to work on the Press and Journal. Three years later he relocated to Edinburgh, and eventually returned to freelancing, founding the photography agency Mediaphotos with his wife Trish.

While Roger took the pictures, Trish handled the operations – coordinating bookings and ensuring images reached national news desks across the UK.

Their work featured in most national newspapers and global agencies including PA and AP, with their pictures appearing around the world.

But the industry began to change after the September 11 attacks, he said, as economic pressures forced newspapers to cut back on freelance budgets. The family returned to Cardiff and continued their business focussing on PR and corporate photography, before the couple decided to retire during the pandemic and move back to Blackwood.

All images copyright Roger Donovan.

Despite stepping back from commercial work, Roger has remained active behind the camera – including kindly helping Caerphilly Observer during local protests over the proposed closure of Blackwood Miners’ Institute.

His return home inspired his first personal project, Hometown Revisited, documenting familiar locations and moments from daily life. That work sparked a realisation, he said.

“When we moved back, my wife and I found ourselves revisiting places we had gone to years and years ago.

“I was reading lots about Blackwood struggling and I thought, is it really that bad? That’s when I thought about doing something about the people of Blackwood – business owners and the people you see regularly – and trying to document it.

“It’s probably more for people in the future to see what Blackwood is like now.”

Roger has already shared some of the portraits on local Facebook groups, where they have received an enthusiastic response. While the project could eventually evolve into a book or exhibition, for now he is focused on steadily adding to the collection and sharing it online.

He also welcomes suggestions for people to feature. Anyone interested can contact him via www.rogerdonovanphotography.co.uk