At the beginning of 2019, I visited a furniture factory in the West Midlands, a region long associated with British manufacturing. Established in 1974, the company has a rich history of producing high-quality office furniture, rooted in traditional craftsmanship and consistency.
What struck me most during my time there were the people. Many of the employees I met had been working at the factory for over twenty years, a rare and quietly powerful example of loyalty, dedication, and reliability in contemporary industry. Their faces carried stories of routine, skill, and commitment shaped by years of labour within the same walls.
This photographic series is a portrait of work, identity, and place. It reflects on the human presence behind manufacturing, often unseen, yet essential, and on the enduring relationship between people and the environments they help sustain.
One photograph from the series was selected as a winning image in the Portraits of Britain competition organised by British Journal of Photography in 2019.
The factory unfortunately folded and made around 150 workers redundant in February 2022.
Kingswinford 2019
