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I wanted to photograph a subject that’s far outside of my experience; I stare at a glowing screen all day to make non-tangible products, like abstractions of digital ledgers. There’s a different, exciting glow in a metal working shop. Metalworkers – fine & heavy – use high heat to cut, fuse, and forge metal into tangible objects from symmetrical engine parts to delicate ironwork.
Each of the three machine shops in this series is distinct, much like the craftsmen that work in them. Some are grimy and industrial, others bright and polished. However, they all have a few things in common, like a repetition of shapes and patterns wherever you look and a sense of organized disorder. It’s challenging to take photographs in these shops because of the extreme light contrasts and constant activity. It’s exciting to be in these environments, too, since photographing in a machine shop comes with hazards like sparks, welding fumes that are a complex mixture of particles and ionized gases, and the possibility of being crushed by a massive slab of steel.
I’ve tried to capture the sensation of being in these three different metal shops while also learning about more about the artists and their crafts.
Grinding forged knife
Forging tools
Kiln
Shaping the blade
Pressing the hot metal
Drawers #8 and #12
Bits and bobs cabinet
Chains
Chains