At Gothic Bite Magazine, we are proud to showcase the work of artists and photographers whose creativity helps bring the strange, beautiful, and unexplained to life. This week, we are pleased to welcome photographer Huw Lloyd and share his work with our readers.

As a photographer I have never been interested in photographing perfection. I am interested in the atmosphere. I am interested in creating characters who look as though they have stepped out of a forgotten kingdom or wandered from the pages of an old myth.

I also believe that there is a meeting place between gothic aesthetics and high fantasy. To me, these worlds have always been closely connected. Both are fascinated by memory, mystery, ancient places, and stories that seem to echo through time. Both invite us to step away from modern life and enter spaces where symbolism still matters and where every ruin, forest, and weathered stone carries the weight of history.

Much of my work is inspired by the paintings of Frank Frazetta. His characters never felt like people dressed in costumes. They felt real. To this day, I find myself returning to his collaboration with Ralph Bakshi on the animated film Fire and Ice (1983). The frozen realm of Nekron and the dark beauty of Juliana’s world feel ancient and mythic. They possess a sense of danger, melancholy, and history that I continually strive to evoke in my own photography. I want my subjects to become warriors, witches, queens, and wanderers whose stories are only partially revealed. 

I have also been deeply influenced by the world of Gormenghast. The vast decaying castle, the strange rituals, and the feeling that the setting itself possesses memory and character resonate strongly with me. There is a melancholy and mystery to Gormenghast that feels profoundly gothic while existing firmly within the realm of fantasy.

For me, the gothic is not simply black clothing or graveyards. It is an atmosphere of memory, mystery, and beauty found within shadow. I find those qualities everywhere in myth and fantasy. There is something deeply comforting about places that carry the weight of memory. A ruined castle wall or an ancient woodland feels alive with stories, and they are the places I keep returning to with my camera.

When I photograph someone, I am not simply photographing a costume. I am creating the suggestion of a larger story. I want viewers to ask questions. Who is this person? What kingdom have they come from? What have they lost? What stories lie hidden behind their eyes? The answers do not need to be obvious because mystery is part of the experience.

Living in South Wales has shaped this vision. I am surrounded by castles, ancient churches, woodlands, and landscapes steeped in folklore. They possess an atmosphere that feels timeless and cinematic. They remind me that stories linger in places and that the past is never entirely gone. Being a proud Welshman, I’m drawn to the idea of creating a dark sense of hiraeth in some of my work.

Whether I am photographing a Viking warrior, a forgotten queen, or a woodland oracle, I am always searching for that meeting place where gothic melancholy and mythic storytelling become one. Ultimately, my photography is about creating images that feel remembered rather than simply seen. I want people to feel as though they have discovered a page from an old manuscript or stumbled upon the remnants of a forgotten kingdom. In that space where gothic melancholy and mythic imagination meet, I have found my creative home.