The utter genius photos from man whose trip to the pub changed his life
After buying a camera off someone in the pub, Math fell in love with street photography
Matthew 'Math' Roberts grew up in the former Welsh industrial town of Ystradgynlais. He was working full-time for the DVLA when in 2016 when he had a chance encounter down the pub and bought a camera off a regular. As someone who had dealt with social anxiety in the past, Math found the camera to be his new secret weapon in overcoming his fear of approaching strangers.
"I used to suffer from really bad social anxiety but when I started taking photos it was different. I wasn't scared of going up to people and taking photos of them," he said. "I felt like I wasn't really there I was just observing it." The now 40-year old soon fell in love with taking photos and enrolled in an online course in photography.
But it was when his tutor introduced him to street photography that Math found his genre. At the time, budding photographer Math was inspired by photographer Martin Parr's early work 'The Last Resort'. Parr's photos depicted the beach resort of New Brighton in Liverpool in the 1980s, capturing the resilience and grit of northern England. Math said the photos reminded him of his childhood living in south Wales.
READ MORE: 25 nostalgic pictures of life in Wales in the 1990s that feel like they were taken yesterday
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Math "cut his teeth" in the nearby city of Swansea, heading out with a camera for hours each day and snapping pictures of unassuming everyday people and interesting local characters. Math explained: "I started shooting in Swansea out of necessity because I worked there and I didn't travel a lot. I like the grittiness of Swansea. I like the High Street and I just like run-down buildings and things like that. But it's going through a sort of gentrification now so I'm running out of time there, I'll have to find somewhere else!," he said.
On taking his own photos of strangers in the street, Math said: "It was quite nerve-wracking for the first couple of years. But as you go on, you don't get many confrontations. But I have had a really bad confrontation. I was shooting Notting Hill Carnival and some guy attacked me, there was blood everywhere and he smashed my camera as well! But that's the only major incident I've had in seven years and I've taken about 100,000 photos. So, it's good odds."
On what he loves about taking pictures, Math said: "When things start coming together and you've been out for like four hours and you get a good photo it's just really worth it. I've met loads of other photographers and friends through it as well." Math has taken pictures across the UK, focussing his efforts in Swansea, London and Cardiff. "My holidays now are based on where I want to take photos," he explained. While Math does take photos in his hometown of Ystradgynlais, he said he finds it harder to take photos of where he lives which many other street photographers seem to relate to.
From eccentric Swansea locals to beer gardens in Neath, Math has shared some of his most striking photos with us and we spoke to him about the stories behind the photos.
You can see more of Math's work via his official website or his Instagram page
Taken in a Weatherspoons in Neath earlier this month, Math said he liked the pastel colours of this picture which depicts a pubgoer ignoring a no smoking sign in the beer garden. On shooting in Neath, the photographer said: "This is going to sound rude- but it's behind the times of Swansea. It's like Swansea ten years ago, I find. I like that about it."
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A striking close-up of Math's friend Erin in his hometown of Ystradgynlais. Is she hiding from the lens? Or watching what she is saying?
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Nuns crossing the road in Castle Street, Swansea. Math said he liked how their outfits paired with the bus. A lot of the subjects of his photographs interact with the colours and shapes of everyday life in Swansea.
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A dog and its owner on the National Waterfront Museum Green in Swansea. "That's the thing, you take photos of people when they've got dogs and the dogs always notice you but their owners don't," Math said.
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A Sunday car boot sale in Swansea High Street car park. A great image between a small car, a mower and a remote control car. An eye catching and a thought provoking image about aspirations
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"This was just some random girl, I liked the two shades of her hair and I liked the jacket. I didn't notice the bridge at first but it worked well. Sometimes you take a picture and when you get home it's something completely different. Ninety percent of the time I won't tell people I'm taking a picture of them."
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