Nick St.Oegger (b. 1988) is a documentary photographer from California, whose work explores people and societies in limbo, dealing with themes of identity, memory and the clash of tradition against modernity.
He has spent several years working in the Western Balkans, with a specific focus on Albania. Clients have included: Vice, Huck, Reuters, Le Monde, De Standaard and Kosovo 2.0. Nick holds an MA in Documentary Photography and Photojournalism from the University of Westminster.
He is currently based between London and Tirana, Albania.
About ‘Bypassed’:
The Port Talbot bypass was Wales’ first motorway, and the first link in what became the modern day M4. Hailed as a major engineering achievement upon its opening in 1966, it also required the demolition of large parts of the town, and the displacement of hundreds of people from their homes and businesses.
While considered a sign of progress, the shortsightedness of its design features and placement through the town has begun to show through the following decades. Concerns about increased traffic congestion and safety issues continue today. The motorway’s expansion coincided with a decline in the steel industry, slowly emptying out the nearby Port Talbot Steelworks, which had once been at the center of the town’s success.
Now the uncertainty of Britain post-Brexit, combined with financial difficulties at Tata Steel have cast a specter of anxiety over the town. The presence of the motorway weighs heavily on the residents of Port Talbot, a symbol of the possibility of being left behind.
Their town has become a place most people only see while driving by, on to more prosperous destinations. Bypassed is an exploration of the lasting effects of the motorway on the physical and psychological landscape of Port Talbot.
