AN AMATEUR photographer has placed pictures along the coastal path between her home in Sully and Cardiff Bay as a way of raising people’s spirits during lock-down.

If you were walking along the coast in Sully this weekend, you might have found a strange cylindrical parcel propped up against a wall or laying on a bench.

Stooping to pick it up, you would see that someone had written a message on its side: “Free photograph inside to cheer someone up during this strange time”.

Your curiosity piqued, you would open the parcel and find a picture of the sky reflected upon a rock pool, or a line of trees with autumnal boughs sweeping down towards the ground.

These enigmatic prints were left along the path by Rochelle Gough, 27, an amateur photographer who wanted to connect with her community and reach out to those who might be struggling in isolation.

“I do photography as a hobby”, explained Rochelle. “I had a few prints left over and I thought that instead of them collecting dust I would post them along the coastal path between Sully and Cardiff Bay.

“I’ve been living in Sully all my life. I’ve grown up on the beach.

“I normally take landscape pictures because I love the water and some of the sunsets here are incredible, especially in the winter”.

Rochelle wrote her Instagram handle on the parcels, so that people who found them could send her a message.

“It was just to make someone smile, and I’ve had some lovely comments from people who got back to me on Instagram”, she said.

“They said they were going to put it up in their room and frame it.

“Some people were feeling a bit down and didn’t expect to find anything, so it cheered them up.

“My job was done – the main purpose was to make people smile and it did - it made me smile too.

“I think it’s very important to say hello, especially if people are living by themselves or if they haven’t got their family around.

“When I’m normally walking the dog I say hello and have a chat, but it’s quite hard to do that now because everyone is quite wary.

“I don’t have to have that physical contact with someone to brighten up their day.

“Art is just a different platform to communicate with. You know if someone’s a bit shy and they don’t want to speak using words, they may want to draw a picture and open up that way instead.

“I think art can show feelings that words can’t quite express, so it’s a great idea to share that with the community”.

At a time of uncertainty and doubt, Rochelle ended with a message of hope and solidarity:

“I think as a community we could do so much more at this time”, she said

“Everyone is concerned about how long it is going to last, but I am hopeful we can get past it, and if we all work together and remain positive we may come out of this in an even better situation than we was before”.

Rochelle would like to make clear that all parcels were fully sanitised. Send your photographs to the Vale of Glamorgan Camera Club for inclusion in the paper: www.facebook.com/groups/189587859052076/