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Terry Morris | |
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 Terry Morris and Dame Shirley Bassey | |
| Born | 6 September 1965 |
| Nationality | Welsh |
| Occupation | Photographer & artist |
Terry Morris (born 6 September 1965 in Llanelli) is a Welsh artist who is primarily known for his photography, particularly his association with the Cool Cymru arts movement.
Terry Morris was born in Llanelli in September 1965. He attended Lakefield Infant and Primary School before moving on to Graig Comprehensive School, Llanelli. Self-confessed as 'not the best academic', Terry lost interest in school during his teens and only stayed on his final year, aged 15, to study woodwork with his favourite teacher 'Mr Evans' (Mike Evans), lovingly known as 'Killer' (due to his Size 13 plimsole!)
Terry left school at 16 and joined the Parachute Regiment in which he served for one year.
During the following years he worked in many different jobs, including as a labourer for his father's building firm, before settling as a welder for Llanelli-based sound and lighting firm PA Installations.
In his 30s Terry went back to college (Gorseinon College) to study Black and White Documentary Photography before starting on the freelance circuit working weekends for the local newspapers (Llanelli Star and Evening Post). [1]
Still employed by PA Installations, Terry was offered a week’s work with the Star [2] when the staff photographer took a week's annual leave. Seeing it as his chance, Terry took a week's sick leave from his employer to cut his teeth as a 'proper' freelance photographer – only to be caught red-handed by his boss halfway through the week and sacked on the spot!
He then went on to work regularly for local and regional media titles before starting to hit the front pages of national tabloids and broadsheets.
Press photography started to lose its appeal [2] in the early 2000s when Terry's ambitions started to grow. A chance to photograph former Stereophonics drummer Stuart Cable, who was in town having his latest tattoo, led to him taking his first steps towards achieving his ambition of becoming the first portrait photographer to capture a photographic Welsh Hall of Fame – later to become known as the Cool Cymru Collection [3]
In 2006 his first published collection, entitled Cool Cymru was exhibited at the Wales Millennium Centre, becoming the first photographic collection to hang on its walls. Opened at the launch by one of the collection's featured stars, Charlotte Church, all 12 prints in the original collection were auctioned, raising over £20,000 for The Noah's Ark Appeal, the fundraising arm of the Children's Hospital of Wales. It went on to tour other Welsh venues. [4]
Launched alongside the photographic collection, the book Cool Cymru Collection . [3] included his portraiture and documented his struggles to finance his dream project and make it a reality. There was also a three-part television documentary [5] filmed by Llanelli-based production company Tinopolis.
Those pictured in the collection were:
Latest additions to the collection include Welsh rugby hero Shane Williams, the world's richest living painter Andrew Vicari, Wales First Minister Rhodri Morgan and Welsh actor Matthew Rhys.
In 2008, Morris's second photo-based book was published. Faces of Stradey Park [6] documented the final season of a Welsh rugby ground which was home to Llanelli RFC and professional region the Llanelli Scarlets for 129 years until October 2008. Morris and writer Andy Pearson were granted access to the ground throughout the 2007–08 rugby season to gather material for the book. It featured the stadium's November 2007 funeral service for rugby player and broadcaster Ray Gravell.
Terry Morris, Carmarthenshire’s Ambassador for the Arts, presented the Queen with a unique Diamond Jubilee tribute, his own portrait of Her Majesty.
Morris had been working on the Royal portrait for a year and it forms part of a pair. Morris says: “As this is a very special year, I wanted to make a special gesture. She said that she was touched, and that the painting had given her much pleasure.” He comments: “Over the years I have photographed and painted a great number of famous faces, but Her Majesty is in quite a different league. Her image is on coins, banknotes, stamps and in the media worldwide. It was a real challenge to try and capture her in a unique way. I have spent twelve months trying to get it right. I hope I have succeeded – I have tried to capture both the iconic and the human sides of Her Majesty.”
This is not the first time that Morris has pictured the Queen. During the Millennium celebrations in 2000 he was asked to take a photographic portrait during a Royal visit to South Wales. He recalls: “Unfortunately she was on a very tight schedule so I had to work very quickly. After the session I felt that I hadn’t done Her Majesty justice. That planted the seed of the idea to paint this portrait. I wanted to get it right.”
In his role as Ambassador for the Arts in Carmarthenshire, Morris works with children and young people, encouraging them to think creatively and express themselves. He says: “I hope I can show the next generation that the arts are not only fun and rewarding, but offer a range of great opportunities for careers. The creative industries are a big part of Wales’ future and we need to harness all that emerging talent we have. Perhaps when the Queen celebrates her Platinum Jubilee one of these youngsters will be presenting her with another portrait.”
Carmarthenshire is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as the "Garden of Wales" and is also home to the National Botanic Garden of Wales.
Llanelli is a market town and community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary and is the largest town in the county of Carmarthenshire.
Ammanford is a town and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales, with a population of 5,411 at the 2011 census. It is a former coal mining town. The built-up area had a population of 7,945 with the wider urban area even bigger.
The Welsh Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in the country of Wales, recognised by the sport's international governing body, World Rugby.
Llanelli Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club founded on 30 March 1872.
Raymond William Robert Gravell was a Welsh rugby union centre who played club rugby for Llanelli RFC. At international level, Gravell earned 23 caps for Wales and was selected for the 1980 British Lions tour to South Africa.
Stradey Park was a rugby union stadium located near the centre of the town of Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It was the home of the Scarlets region and Llanelli RFC rugby teams. The stadium was a combination of seating and standing with a total capacity of 10,800. Following the Scarlets' move to Parc y Scarlets in 2008, Stradey Park was demolished two years later and replaced with housing.
Llangennech ( ) is a village and community in the area of Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales, which covers an area of 1,222 hectares (4.72 sq mi).
Christopher David Williams was a Welsh artist.
William Gareth Davies is a former Wales and British and Irish Lions international rugby union player and former chairman of the Welsh Rugby Union.
The Prince William Cup was created in 2007 by the Welsh Rugby Union and celebrates 100 years of rugby union history between Wales and South Africa. It is named after the Vice Royal Patron of the WRU, the Prince of Wales, who presented the cup, at the inaugural match, held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on 24 November 2007.
Parc y Scarlets is a rugby union stadium in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, that opened in November 2008 as the new home of the Scarlets and Llanelli RFC.
Thomas Deacon was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Swansea and international rugby for Wales
Daniel Griffiths was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Llanelli and international rugby for Wales. Morgan was a collier by profession.
John Samuel was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Swansea and international rugby for Wales. He played just one game for Wales, notable for being selected alongside his brother David Samuel
Clifford Alfred Bowen was a Welsh international rugby union wing who played for club rugby for Llanelli and international rugby for Wales. He was also a keen cricketer, playing for Llanelli and Carmarthenshire in the Minor Counties Cricket Championship.
Harry Vaughan Watkins was a Welsh rugby union player who played club rugby for Llanelli and London Welsh and gained six caps for the Wales national team. Watkins also played cricket and hockey for Carmarthenshire.
John Thomas was a Welsh photographer, specialising in landscape images of Wales and Welsh chapels, and portraits of notable Welsh people, particularly church and chapel ministers.
Keith Davies is a Welsh Labour politician and was the National Assembly for Wales member for Llanelli from 2011 until 2016. He beat Helen Mary Jones who was the deputy leader of Plaid Cymru, and incumbent AM for Llanelli, in May 2011.
Cool Cymru was a Welsh cultural movement in music and independent film in the 1990s and 2000s, led by the popularity of bands such as Stereophonics, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Manic Street Preachers, Catatonia and Super Furry Animals.
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