Another influence was the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher - though Cabuts was at pains to stress that his obsession with various subjects (monuments, telegraph poles, pylons, garages) is not as systematic, rigorous and exhaustive as the Bechers' chronicling of the industrial architecture of South Wales.
Born in Bristol but brought up in Ynyshir, Cabuts made it his mission to provide a corrective to the dominant images of the Valleys, taken by the likes of W Eugene Smith, which portrayed a place and a people that he simply didn't recognise. Initially, this meant taking the stock subjects (terraced housing, spoil tips and collieries) and capturing them in colour rather than black and white - a more radical move than it might sound.
Partly, at least, this was in response to public opinion. Cabuts recalled how one early black-and-white project was criticised by a local resident for painting the Valleys in too negative a light. He may have been speaking to an audience of photographers and photography enthusiasts, but that didn't stop him from stressing that it's the general public whose viewpoint he really values. And the Valleys is evidently a place he cares for deeply; when he recently (voluntarily) made the move to Carmarthenshire, "it felt like my arm had been cut off".
Cabuts' enduring enthusiasm for photography came across most clearly towards the end of the interview, when he spoke about his friend - a fellow photographer - who lives opposite a chapel. Cabuts' photo of that chapel, the friend confessed, made him look in a new light at something that he wakes up to every day. When you set out to change perceptions and perspectives, compliments don't come much better than that.
(The new issue of Offline is devoted to the Valleys, and the photo above shows part of the article on Cabuts' latest book, Form.)
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