Although I'm from Gower, and would vigorously oppose anyone calling me a 'Swansea Jack', I have to admit an attachment to the 'ugly, lovely town'. In the ten years since I moved away it's managed to smarten itself up a bit, and returning as a tourist I spent much of last week trying to photograph it. I lost a couple of days to torrential rain (I persevered, got drenched and it took most of the next day to dry out my gadget bag), but I had really good light on Thursday, and made hay :)

When I left Wind Street had lost almost all of its former glory, its Victorian and Edwardian buildings run down and grimy. The local authority redesignated it the city's 'cafe quarter' and encouraged bars and clubs to take over the premises, with the proviso that they respect the buildings' original features. In some cases this has brought them to the fore; I used to work behind the bar in the last building to the right in the picture below, never dreaming that beneath the modern signage was carved 'Metropolitan Bank of England and Wales'.

Particularly impressive is the old Head Post Office, now 'Idols' nightclub, but the carved lions have yet to reappear.

The biggest revelation has been the old 'maritime quarter' which housed many of Swansea's port facilities, and some of its grandest buildings, long left in decline. The picture below shows the mixture of architectural styles, from the Georgian houses of Somerset Place (left), the early Victorian Town Hall (centre) and the Edwardian Port Authority Building (right).

The old Town Hall is now the Dylan Thomas Centre, named for Swansea's favourite son (when Shane Williams is injured), who's responsible for 'ugly, lovely town', as well as the more ambiguous 'Swansea is the graveyard of ambition'. The picture shows a side elevation as I could not get up early enough to catch the sun on the front

I managed to get through a half dozen rolls of film, but in the interests of not boring viewers comatose I'll end here. However, for every picture I took there were at least another five where the light was on the wrong side, or the sightline was obstructed, and I think photographing Swansea'll prove a project that will take up several visits home.