File: 2016002-0076
Former railway turned footpath not far from The Old Station, Tintern. Near the village of Tintern (Tyndym), in the Wye Valley, Monmouthshire, Wales (Cymru), United Kingdom, on Tuesday 2nd of February 2016.
About the photograph.
The photo is of a Welsh model, Sally modelling in a M&Co faux fur coat with the hood up, and she is posing off the main footpath, which used to be a disused railway line, not far from The Old Station, at Tintern.
I got in touch with Sally through one of the online modelling website, I can’t remember which ones, but could have been either PurplePort or ModelFolio.
After pre-shoot communications, we arranged to meet up at The Old Station, Tintern.
She arrived with her husband and their little girl, and they arrived first, then enjoy a little bit of a day out in the grounds while they wait for me to arrive on time. I was looking for her, and she spotted me, so she waved me over.
The photo-shoot was split into two sections, one hour each. The first section was mainly fashion-like photo-shoot, right next to the old railway carriages. You can see those photos in the album titled Sally, where she is seen wearing a tan coloured and a leopard print fur jackets.
The brown M&Co faux fur coat she is wearing in the photo, is in UK size 22 with a hood, and was ordered online.
She is also wearing a chequered blouse under the fur coat, slightly buttoned from the top, showing her cleavage. She is also wearing blue jeans tucked into below knee-length flat heeled boots.
The idea is for a girl-next-door casual style winter outfit, looking as if she’s lost in the woods.
This part of the woods is actually nothing more than some trees lining up the sides of an old disused railway line, with the railway tracks long since taken off, the line is now simply a footpath for people to enjoy a walk.
After those shots, she changed to a different fur coat, and posed farther down the line. You can find those shots in the album titled Sally, of her wearing a long tan and cream coloured striped coat.
Here in the United Kingdom, during the 1980s and 1990s, I had been struggling to get into a college course to study photography, and also to get a job as a photographer, because of discrimination towards the disability people, as I am a deaf person with speech impaired.
My own family, the hearing teachers at the deaf school, the career advisors, and the social workers, they all would tell me that I can’t be a photographer because of the need to communicate with people.
That may be true for a wedding photographer who need to have a good speech, to be able to communicate with the wedding party. But it is not like I want to be that kind of photographer.
I wanted to do sports photography, where I would get on with taking photos of sports action, like basketball or Formula 1. Communications problems with the boss at office would be no different from communications problems anywhere else.
Working with an experienced model is not a problem, granted there are some communication problems, but all I have to do is show them the way I posed, and they would then use their experience to pose in ways I want them to do.
While I have been working with her, we had got on well, despite the communications difficulties, and she was really pleased with me.
As a matter of a fact, I’ve booked 7 different models (so far), and worked well with all of them.
About the overall subjects.
About M&Co.
In 1834, Neil McGeoch started a pawnbroker business, in Paisley, Scotland, and over the many years, the family business expanded to 6 pawnbroker shops.
By 1953, the brothers Len and Iain McGeoch decided to convert the pawnbroker shops into clothing stores, and traded as Mackays Stores Limited. Over the years, they acquired a few other clothing retail business and expanded to approximately at least 140 by 1986, up to 270 by 2005.
In 2005, the company was rebranded as M&Co for a more modern image, and went on to operate over 300 stores, including few overseas and an online store.
The company first specialised in women’s clothes, later expanded to include men’s and children’s clothes.
Sadly due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the early 2020s, the company struggled with business as customers stayed at home, and struggled to keep going.
The company finally went into administration, and it was reported that the branding was bought by the McGeoch family. By spring of 2023, M&Co was closing down.
About the location.
The Old Station or Tintern railway station, is a former railway station on the Wye Valley Railway line that ran approximately 15 miles between the towns of Monmouth to the north and Chepstow in the south.
The station opened in November 1878 and was one of the four stations along the line, and the railway company chose to build a large station as they were hoping to generate more income from tourist visiting the nearby Tintern Abbey.
The Wye Valley Railway line was a railway line along the lower Wye Valley and often crossed over between Wales and England due to the River Wye being used as the border between the two countries.
The railway line was in use between 1876 to 1964, and was operated by Great Western Railway (GWR) until taken over by British Rail (BR). Once BR took over the railway line, they reviewed its viability and stopped passenger services in 1959, while allowing goods transportation to continue until the line closed in 1964.
The rail station was bought by the local country council, refurbished it into a café and exhibition, then opened to the public. Monmouthshire County Council later bought a couple of old carriages, which were refurbished as gift shop, tourism information, and an exhibition. The two carriages are displayed on what’s left of the rail tracks.
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