On Friday I attended the Documentary Photography Graduate show at the Capitol Shopping Centre in Cardiff. The show which was held in an unoccupied store, was packed with friends, families, fellow students and art lovers. At the door we were presented with an exhibition guide and a white box 10” x 8” with the title #RELAYPHOTO2016, the box contained PhotoCards from each of the 20 graduating students. These cards consisted of a sample exhibition photograph and descriptive text. The topics they tackled included their own life experiences and comments on our world.

The show was very well attended, which necessitated a degree of planning to negotiate all the exhibits with some degree of certainty. The course tutor, Paul Reas, gave an interesting and motivating speech and thanked David Hurn, the originator of the Documentary Photography School in Newport in 1973, for his continued support of the course.

I consider myself privileged in being accepted to complete my BA on the Documentary Photography course at Cardiff University and I am reminded of a comment by Don McCullin in a recent interview by the London i newspaper during the amazing Photo London show when he said “I’m inhabited by creative excitement…” when referring to why he still takes photographs at the age of 80. I have a similar feeling looking forward to joining the Documentary class in September.

The Cardiff University Graduate show occupied further locations in the former H&M store and on the Capitol mezzanine with well curated and presented shows highlighting Photography, Photography for Fashion and Advertising, Design, Fashion and Animation.

On Friday night the whole shopping centre was abuzz with creative energies; the Capitol Shopping Centre in Cardiff was ‘owned’ by the creative students of Cardiff University.