Sediments

Provenance of the Brick (ongoing)

Exhibitions:
Cook's Studio, Signal Film and Media, Barrow-in-Furness, December 2025
East Meets West group exhibition, FORMAT International Photography Festival, Derby, March 2025

This project traces the production of bricks, a durable and recyclable building material that meets a clear economic need. Through a series of photographs, it highlights the arduous labour and the rich industrial heritage of a 150-year-old Cumbrian brickworks, using an observational approach that foregrounds human presence and place. It also reveals the environmental cost of brickmaking, including carbon emissions from coal combustion used to fire the kiln, and the physical alteration of the local landscape caused by quarrying shale, the sedimentary rock from which bricks are made. The series reflects both the admirable and damaging aspects of industrial production, highlighting the tension between economic necessity and environmental responsibility, which remains one of the defining challenges of our time.

The environmental crisis has its roots in the industrialisation of the economy. During Britain’s Industrial Revolution, bricks became the preferred building material because they were quicker and cheaper to produce than quarried stone. In this historical sense, brick production offers a tangible link between the legacy of industrialisation and contemporary environmental concerns.

Acknowledgements. These photographs were made at Furness Brick and Tile Company Limited, a 150-year-old brickworks in Askam, Cumbria. I sincerely thank the management for their trust, earnestness, and support. Their willingness to engage with an urgent and difficult subject is remarkable and gives me hope. I am also indebted to the workers for their generosity. Their welcoming and forthcoming attitude highlights the human capacity to find common ground.