Geoff Charles was a journalist and photographer born in Brymbo near Wrexham in 1909. He studied for a Diploma in Journalism at the University of London from where he graduated with first class honours in 1928. He worked as a reporter for the Western Mail and the Mountain Ash and Aberdare Express before moving to Guildford to work on the Surrey Advertiser. Following a serious bout of illness he returned to Wales to work on the Wrexham Star, and shortly after joining the paper he reported on the Gresford Colliery disaster. He moved to Newtown to run the Montgomeryshire Express where he met the reporter John Roberts Williams for whom he was to illustrate articles for Y Cymro. He dedicated 50 years of his life to portraying Wales through the lens of his camera. His contribution to Wales is unique and today his archive of 120,000 photographs is one of the treasures of the National Library of Wales. Geoff Charles died in 2002.