the quench tank
In the midst of the factory’s cacophonous drone, belching furnaces, hissing hydraulic presses, and it’s continuous shuffling of material and manpower, there is reprieve.
The images in this body of work come from an industrial forging facility in northern Illinois and they focus on the movement, residue and geometry that form around the forging area and specifically, the quench tank.
By exploring these elements, I was not only drawn to the visually subtle and quieter details of this manufacturing facility, but also to the periphery of what we are not supposed to see. This forging facility manufactures machine components for industries involved in food processing, bridge and ship building, mining, oil exploration and extraction, logging, weapons development and manufacture, satellite, telecommunication and space exploration. Due to the factory’s high profile clientele and the economic preciousness of their industrial arm, especially in a time of war, I was forbidden to make photographs of any factory machinery or completed forgings.
These images are inextricable from the environment they came. Yet, their beauty and contemplative quality are incongruous to the conventions and function of that environment, thus the factory’s purpose becomes a mystery and its periphery becomes an entirety.
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