A well-known local news photographer has died aged 78. Known as the “King of the Camera,” John Llewellyn Wright, has left an unforgettable legacy and helped tell many stories during his 44-year-long career.
John was born in Merthyr and had a passion for photography from a young age. His career as a local newspaper photographer started when he was only 16 years old at the Merthyr Express newspaper. He then moved to the Aberdare/ Cynon Valley Leader in his twenties, where he became a household name throughout the Cynon Valley.
Over the years his pictures helped tell local stories that shaped people’s lives in the valleys over four decades. John captured the big, small, sad and happy moments, from Royal visits to children’s sports and Saint David’s Day events. He also covered the Raglan coach crash during the 90s and the bitter conflict of the miners strike in the 80s. But his most memorable and difficult assignment was capturing the tragic events of the Aberfan disaster in 1966. He told his friends and family that it was devastating, and something he would never forget.
