Overview

Photographer Chris Coekin went to the John Pring & Son copper wire factory in Cheshire to photograph the Manager but instead ended up returning many times over six years. The son of factory workers he was fascinated by the Victorian factory and the tough, physical nature of the manufacturing process.

He approached the documenting of the factory conceptually in three series.

The Altogether. This series depicts the workers in heroic poses reminiscent of early trade union banners.

Manufactory Pt.1. Here he looks at the overlooked spaces of the factory examining the patina of stain and toil in an almost geological fashion.

Manufactory Pt.2 (aka Made inEngland). Following on from Pt 1 Coekin unearths old manual tools photographing them in an archaeological way.

Self published by his Walkout Books imprint in a cloth bound hardback each series is presented in a series of fold outs. The book comes with a 7” vinyl record of sounds of the factory and workers.

The factory closed in 2010. The Altogether depicts the last days of another part of Britain’s proud manufacturing heritage.