An Exhibition of Photography: Stephen Gill & Michael Guess

 

 

Taken at night, the images, rich in colour and eerily empty, explore spaces within the normally restricted plant at Redcar which houses the coke ovens and furnaces.

 

Previously exhibited in ‘Steel Life’ at Dorman Museum, the photographs are part of a larger project which explores aspects of Teesside’s heavy industrial heritage.

 

Stephen has also spent the last year documenting the Transporter Bridge and its surroundings in Middlehaven. A selection of the work produced as part of the Transporter centenary celebrations can be seen in a series of exhibitions across the region from September 2011.

 

Originally from Teesside, Stephen now lives in Nottingham, but retains a strong connection with the area he grew up in. He specialises in photographing architectural space and has exhibited across the UK and Europe.

 

 

Michael worked in the steel plant at Lackenby for 28 years and he really wanted to capture not only the history but the beauty of working in heavy industry, something that not many get to see.

In 2010 the idea that steel would once again be produced on Teesside, was a thought he didn't have, but with SSI now taking over the steel industry in Teesside, Michael is now back working at Lackenby at the Continuous Casting Plant.

 

This series of photographs captures the last months of production at Lackenby Continuous Casting Plant.