In my series Custom Machinery, I photographed some of the last workers and machines of their kind. Though there will always be certain kinds of work that become obsolete, it's important to stop and think about what we destroy in the name of progress, to make informed decisions about the price we pay. Matthew Crawford, in Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work, describes leaving behind a series of stultifying academic jobs and turning to a career as a motorcycle mechanic, where he discovers the "intensely absorbing nature" of manual labor. He appreciates "losing himself in work that is genuinely useful and has a certain integrity to it." As society devalues such manual trades, Crawford argues, we risk losing a bit of our soul. It's that bit of soul I tried to capture in Custom Machinery. In this era of cubicles and knowledge workers and information technology, I want these images to remind us of the beauty of machines and tools and the hands that use them.
+ Limited-edition, exclusive to 20x200
+ Museum quality: archival inks, 100% cotton rag paper unless noted
+ Signed + numbered certificate of authenticity included
+ Directly supports the artist
+ Handcrafted custom-framing is available
Our quoted dimensions are for the size of paper containing the images, not the printed image itself. We do not alter the aspect ratio, nor do we crop or resize the artists’ originals. All of our prints have a minimum border of .5 inches to allow for framing.
