There is a glorious melancholy in the images. A crumbling petrol station, a pair of abandoned cars, a caravan that could once have been towed on myriad, jolly holidays and is now abandoned on a hilltop.

A collection of beautiful photographs taken by the Welsh landscape photographer David Wilson drawn together in a book called Peeling Paint and Rust is a hymn to decay, and a respectful nod to the power of his country’s rain and damp.

Wilson, who is based in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales, is known for his black and white landscape photographs, but for two decades has also been taking colour pictures of structures that are – just about – withstanding the elements.

“On my travels, I kept encountering the incredible colours and textures of peeling paint and rust,” said Wilson. “I’d be on my way to a location and suddenly I’d see a bright, flaking village shopfront – or a corrugated garage or tractor graveyard and be stopped in my tracks. The colours were amazing and I had to capture them.

“Over nearly 20 years I accumulated a collection of images of this wonderful decay and one day I realised that they hung together as a whole. Together, they tell a story of rural Wales. The patina of weather-aged surfaces and rusting metal feel like works of art to me.”

Wilson said Wales wasn’t kind to bodywork and neglected buildings. “Wales has proper weather. Brutal on occasion. The kind of weather that degrades our best efforts at preservation. Paint peels and metal rusts in outdoor Wales.”

His studies of corrugated iron are particularly striking. “We’ve taken it as our own. It’s been used extensively from the 19th century for sheds, garages, houses, chapels, all manner of structures, big and small. We Welsh love this crinkly material.”

But Wilson acknowledged the sadness in the pictures. “I felt I was documenting a dislocation in the rural communities of Wales. A dying way of life. The world moves on and it seemed to have left these places and their objects behind.”

He said it was becoming difficult to find studies in decay. “People are inclined to tidy things up. Put things right. That obsession with neatness and order.”

Drew Pritchard, the antique dealer and presenter of the television show Salvage Hunters, said there was a unique beauty in dereliction and decay.

The book, which is published on Thursday, reminded Pritchard of roaming the abandoned buildings in and around the small village on the coast of north Wales where he grew up and admiring the flaking paint of a corrugated chapel roof, Stan the Butcher’s tatty shop sign and a Ford Zephyr marooned on the front yard of the local garage.

He likes the way Wilson has put “the eroded, the rust-bitten and the slowly fading away” front and centre, almost as if they were portraits of people. “Wilson’s images serve as a celebratory obituary to those too stubborn to crumble,” he said.

This photo taken on July 31, 2023, shows a view of Nairobi, capital of Kenya. (Xinhua/Wang Guansen)

Strolling through streets in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, people are likely to observe a vibrant youth presence, especially on Sundays when the bustling city typically experiences a lull in foot traffic.

NAIROBI, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) — Strolling through streets in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, people are likely to observe a vibrant youth presence, especially on Sundays when the bustling city typically experiences a lull in foot traffic.

A closer look at these lively gatherings reveals groups of people posing for photographs, choreographers devising dance routines, and TikTokers creating the latest TikTok trends.

Austine Oyugi, 24, and Awadh Salim, 26, who were setting up their photography gear for a photo shoot, demonstrated the enduring popularity of this timeless art among Kenya’s youth.

This dynamic duo has been engaged in street photography for nearly a year, following the challenges of securing employment after their university graduation in 2022.

 Hawkers sell their merchandise along a street in the central business district of Nairobi, capital of Kenya, on Oct. 26, 2023. (Photo by John Okoyo/Xinhua)

“After Governor of Nairobi Johnson Sakaja lifted the mandatory photography fee in late 2022, people began coming to the streets to take photos, and my friend and I joined in,” said Oyugi, who holds a degree in actuarial science. “Salim had a camera from campus, and both of us honed our skills by watching YouTube tutorials.”

Before Nairobi’s streets transformed into a photography haven for the youth, obtaining a photography and videography permit involved a cumbersome and costly process. It required obtaining a license from the Kenya Films and Classification Board at a cost of dozens of U.S. dollars, notifying the police, and making numerous visits to the local administrator’s office for a single day of shooting.

Some of these regulations are outdated, and the government of Nairobi has waived all business permits for freelance photographers and filmmakers in the city, said Sakaja when issuing the directive in September 2022, adding that additionally, all the daily shooting fees have been abolished.

Today, the two friends have acquired substantial equipment that has improved the quality of their work. On a good day, they can photograph up to 30 people, with each photo costing 0.65 dollars. The photos are immediately shared with clients via WhatsApp, making this their primary source of income.

Salim said he frequently approached passersby for impromptu photoshoots. He emphasized the importance of being convincing and effectively communicating with customers by showcasing their previous work to earn their trust.

On the other end of the street, young Kenyans are found to create and share videos on the popular social media app TikTok. Here, dozens of youngsters perform dance routines and record them using their smartphones.

Vehicles drive on the Nairobi Expressway in Nairobi, Kenya, Dec. 22, 2022. (Xinhua/Han Xu)

Janet Kyalo, a student majoring in tourism and management, seizes the opportunity to incorporate Nairobi’s skyscrapers as her TikTok background. She appreciates the clean streets and the architecture, which adds a unique touch to her videos.

Kyalo noted that many people have lost interest in studio videos, finding them repetitive. She and her friends typically convene from 2 p.m. onward and stay until 7 p.m. These sessions offer an excellent opportunity for networking and building connections that can be pivotal in their careers.

Cliff Dawiga, a 25-year-old who recently quit his job as a vehicle mechanic due to inadequate earnings, has been shooting for a little over two months. Fueled by his childhood passion for photography, he purchased a used camera with his savings and started capturing portraits.

“After hearing that the governor had removed limitations on creatives, I bought the camera. However, it stayed unused in my house for two months before I began using it,” Dawiga said. Building confidence, he began using it on the streets, capturing portraits from Tuesday to Sunday, with weekends being the busiest.

“The pay is decent, and we’re not harassed by county police, allowing us to work smoothly. On rare occasions, like when it rains, we face some inconveniences,” Dawiga noted.

With approximately 800,000 Kenyan youths entering the job market each year, according to the National Council for Population Report 2023, the available economic opportunities, both formal and informal, fall short of meeting their needs. In this context, emerging crafts such as street photography are likely to evolve into profitable ventures for the youthful demographic in the near future.  ■