An exhibition has opened in Penarth showcasing the morning swimming group the Dawnstalkers.

Photographer James Richardson has been photographing the group since April this year, as he wanted to give them a keepsake of their experiences.

The exhibition, located at Penarth Pier Pavilion, opened last night, with the images for sale. It is the first time James has exhibited his works in person, rather than online.

"It's thrilling to see people every morning facing their fear of the cold, the sea, the unknown and coming out 20 minutes later with a giant smile on their face. It's a smile of achievement and pride," said James.

"These images show the emotion and the feelings of being a Dawnstalker. I hope people will hang these on their wall or put it on their shelves to keep a piece of the magic of the sunrise dips, at home.

"Some people commended me on my commitment to coming to the sea every day to take pictures of the Dawnstalkers.

"For me, the difficulty isn't getting up early or going into the cold and sometimes turbulent water, but keeping myself equipped to be able to keep taking these images. My cameras aren't designed to be splashed by seawater daily. I have been through two silicone waterproof cases, one lens and two camera bodies with fixable but major damage, leaving this an expensive compulsion that will take an even larger budget to future proof me."

Lene Hops, member of the Dawnstalkers, spoke of her excitement about the exhibition.

"James has committed to the mornings at the Seafront as a passion project and has been spoiling us with his amazing images daily since April.

"A few months ago, we thought, 'wouldn't it be cool to have an exhibition in the Pier'.

"We've been manifesting this happening and worked towards it during the last few weeks. It's been intense as none of us has worked on an exhibition before. Despite it being a bit scary we're super excited to share this!

"The Dawnstalkers have been growing so quickly because of the great work that our team behind the scenes puts in. We work amazingly together and it's a pleasure to be on this journey with everyone."

James hopes his exhibition will showcase Penarth seafront and the group to locals and visitors alike.

"When the Pier kindly gave the green light to this exhibition, I was overjoyed! I think this is an important thing to do to help solidify the Dawnstalkers as part of Penarth, to give visitors of the beautiful Pier Pavilion an opportunity to see what happens when most of them are still in bed," he said.

"Hopefully it inspires more people to give themselves the challenge to get into the water."

The exhibited pictures will stay in the Pier for around four weeks, to be seen daily from 9am - 4:30pm.

To purchase a print, purchase the size on the Kickstarter website and send me an email to - [email protected] with the name of the image and size of the print.