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The Condition of the Working Class in Wales is a photographic adaptation of Friedrich Engels seminal sociological work 'The Condition of the Working Class in England' that was published into a book. Engels collected his research materials for this publication between 1842 and 1844, whilst working for the family firm Ermen and Engels in Greater Manchester. Engels is able to break down his research material into 11 chapters within the publication, these chapters are; The Industrial Proletariat, The Great Towns, Competition, Irish Immigration, Results, Single Branches of Industry: Factory-Hands, The Remaining Branches of Industry, Labour Movements, The Mining Proletariat, The Agricultural Proletariat and The Attitude of the Bourgeoisie Towards the Proletariat.

Whilst we must acknowledge that Engels research was finalised 176 years ago, we must also acknowledge that the condition of the working classes in terms of societal structure have not strayed far from what Engels discovered all those years ago, which will be evident in the photographs. Within the project I have taken quotes from the publication and paired them with photographs which embody these quotes, thus turning them into photographic realism as oppose text on a piece of paper. 

Due to current circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic the whole of the work was made in Wales. Whilst it would have been preferred to make this work across the entirety of the United Kingdom in order to universalise the photographs, it would have also enabled Engels work to be fully embodied within photographs rather than localised accounts of his research.

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