About Joann
Joann Randles is a Welsh photojournalist, portraitist and unit stills photographer whose work spans fine-art photography, national press and television.
Born in Carmarthen and raised on the Pembrokeshire coast, Joann’s photography has always been rooted in people, place and a strong sense of observation. She is commissioned directly by national newspapers and works as a unit stills photographer for television, alongside her own documentary and portrait projects.
Painting with light, Joann works entirely in-camera, without digital manipulation. For her, this is less about process than about the photograph itself, responding to light, timing and the person in front of the lens, and getting it right at the moment of capture.
Her work has taken her across the UK and internationally, including an extensive body of documentary photography made within Welsh and Ukrainian communities. Her photographs have been exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and internationally. In 2025, Joann became the first photographic journalist to represent Wales at the Festival Interceltique Lorient, where her work was exhibited as part of the EuroCeltic Art exhibition at the Palais des Congrès. In March 2026, she curated Hiraeth, an exhibition exploring longing, belonging and cultural memory. These themes of identity, community, displacement and our connection to place run through much of her wider work. Joann’s work has received national recognition through the prestigious UK Picture Editors Guild Awards, where her portrait of 15-year-old Ukrainian refugee Mariia-Anastasiia Mikulska was awarded second place for Picture of the Year. The image was selected by leading picture editors from work submitted by professional press photographers working for national newspapers and major photographic agencies across the UK. Chosen as one of just 21 images, the award places Joann’s work alongside some of the country’s most established press photographers and recognises her ability to produce strong, considered images within the demands of editorial photography. Working across editorial, television and fine art has given Joann a breadth of experience and an ability to move between very different photographic environments. At the heart of all of her work, however, is the same thing, a curiosity about people and a desire to make photographs that feel honest, considered and ultimately timeless.
Sestry
Sestry, Joann’s powerful portrait of two Ukrainian sisters, marks an important point in her career. The photograph is part of the UK Government’s permanent art collection and is currently on display at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office in London. Its inclusion in a public collection, and its presence within a working government office, represents significant recognition of Joann’s work and the wider reach of her portraiture.
The art of
the work
Joann’s photographic language is strongly influenced by the traditions of classical fine art. The dramatic chiaroscuro of Rembrandt and the movement, composition and humanism of Renaissance masters including Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo inform the way she approaches light, gesture and composition.
Working predominantly on location, often in challenging conditions and frequently alone, Joann creates her images with a highly instinctive yet considered approach.
She works with both natural and artificial light, shaping it with the precision and intention of a painter.
The resulting portraits are often cinematic in their atmosphere, but remain grounded in the reality of the person and situation in front of the camera.
Journalism
& integrity
Joann’s background as a professional press photographer is fundamental to her approach.
Press photography carries a responsibility that distinguishes it from many other forms of contemporary photographic practice in that the image must remain faithful to the reality it records.
Joann’s portraits and documentary photographs are therefore captured entirely in-camera. Post-production is deliberately restrained, limited to adjustments such as subtle colour correction, cropping and the removal of dust spots.
This discipline is central to her work. The images are created through the subject, the light, the composition and the moment itself, rather than through digitally constructing a reality that did not exist.
Hiraeth
Joann’s first acclaimed solo exhibition titled Hiraeth was held at the National Botanic Garden of Wales in early 2026.
The body of work in the collection celebrates Welsh life, culture and the preservation of century-old traditions.
A significant and continuing body of Joann’s work documents Welsh folk dance and the cultural life of Wales.
Her approach is neither purely documentary nor traditionally fine art. Instead, she uses the visual power of portraiture to make cultural stories immediate and accessible to audiences far beyond Wales.
Her work has increasingly brought Welsh identity to international audiences, including through her 2025 participation in the EuroCeltic Art exhibition at the Festival Interceltique de Lorient in Brittany.
Collections
Foreign Office, London
Sestry — portrait of two Ukrainian sisters — acquired for the Foreign Office’s permanent collection and displayed in London. 2026.
Recognition
Joann Randles’ work has been recognised by leading photography, media and cultural institutions in the UK and internationally.
Selected awards
Selected exhibitions
The work
Her practice continues to evolve between editorial photography, portraiture and fine-art storytelling, with an ambition to create work that is ultimately timeless.
Joann is available for editorial assignments, portrait commissions, documentary projects and selected international commissions.