Pentre Ifan Cromlech Pembrokeshire

Pentre Ifan Cromlech Pembrokeshire

The North Coast of Pembrokeshire is littered with cromlechs and neolithic burial mounds, from the little known llech y drybedd to the very well known Pentre Ifan. Most are overlooked by the immensity of of the Mynydd Carningli a small mountain in the Preseli Hills near the town of Newport, Pembrokeshire.

I’ve visited Pentre Ifan on a number of occasions and found it a location that is quite tricky to photograph, I’ve seen thousands of images of the cromlech, most incorporating the mountain through the stones and whilst I can understand the obvious compositional reasons, there are a number of simple reasons why this is just not the most appropriate shot to make here a) Fence b) no real relationship to mountain c) The Seven stones most representative of Pentre Ifan and not shown from the popular angle.

So after much thinking and various visits, I had a outline plan, I wanted to show how much of an importance Pentre Ifan played in the landscapes, it’s seven stones, the immensity and sheer dominance of the capstone, but most of all, I wanted to depict the cromlech without the hideous farmers fence. I also wanted to drag emotion out of the landscape, return a little mystery, ask a few questions, and imply the historical significance, rather than depicting the stone as the popular tourist destination it now is. I’d hate for it to be immortalised as a “nice” place to visit.

I am very happy with how this ended up, grainy, pinhole esque and dark.