Sometimes you get an assignment that is truly a gift and documenting the closure of the General Motors Holden plant in Elizabeth, Adelaide was one of those jobs. I had an open brief to spend a day in each area of the plant to photograph it however I liked. An open brief can be both a blessing and a curse because having no boundaries can you leave you directionless and the fear is that you end up with a collection of images that don’t hang together - so I set my own boundaries. As I made my way around this vast facility I was looking for imagery that fit one of these three themes. People at work, portraits and abstract industrial. The people at work was shot in reportage style and although sometimes with the help of an assistant I still lit the images, these were mostly unposed. The portraits were made while the workers were on their shifts. Often these were taken very quickly as the production line moved along, so most were done in under a minute. Again, with the help of an assistant, I lit these where I could. The abstract industrial was perhaps my favourite part visually. I’ve always been drawn to the the order, the pattern, the texture and sometimes the sheer enormity of the industrial landscape and its contents.
The final series of images were of the dying days of the plant as the company, its workers and community celebrated a proud history. We followed the last cars that came off the production line as the workers followed as you might in a funeral procession, hugging each other and taking selfies in front of the cars. Having spent so long on this project I too had a few tears as I watched these proud workers say goodbye to an era and a job they loved.