“One morning, after the cutter went down the face and left all the duff (all the small coal after the cut), I was placed in position by my mate, and he was on the other side. Then it was faulting my side, and while I was removing the coal, the roof came in and buried me. As I tried to escape I fell on the belt, and it was still going.  I was underneath and I stopped breathing. It pulled my leg sideways, damaging the ligaments and ribs and my back. I was carried to the surface and went to the hospital”

 

The Diary of Gwyn explores the life of Gwyn Jones, 81, of Abertillery in the south Wales valleys. Gwyn worked at the Six Bells Colliery from age 13. In 1957 at the age of 16, while working, a coalface collapsed on him. Gwyn was buried under the coal during the disaster for several hours until he was rescued. It took four years for him to recover mentally and physically from the trauma. His leg was damaged, he sustained injuries to his neck, and his eyesight was affected. During his recovery, Gwyn faced further tragedy when he lost friends in the Six Bells Colliery disaster of 1960, where 45 men were tragically killed.

The Diary of Gwyn explores the mental and physical effects Gwyn still faces today as an eighty-one-year-old man. Throughout the project, Gwyn describes his recovery from the accident, the tragedy of losing his friends and the toll these events have taken on his mental health. The photographs also explore the joy Gwyn finds in his life. The images  are accompanied by archival images from Gwyn's life, connecting the past to the present.