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'Work' in 100 images

100 images Created 20 Nov 2008

These 100 introduction images come from the book The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work by Alain de Botton, published by Penguin in April 2009.

Alongside the main 650 picture gallery, this edit covers the subjects and chapters covered in the book: Logistics; Accountancy; Electricity; Rocket Science; Biscuits; Tuna Fishing; Aviation; River Business and the unpublished Couture chapter.

This gallery is part of a short series relating to this book, though their titles have in some cases been adapted for this archive. They are viewed here as a showcase but will be released for sale on the 1st April 2009 at Photoshelter and Alamy or exclusively at CORBIS and therefore each file has its own restrictions which can be read within its metadata.

The book pictures are reproduced in black and white but all appear here in colour.

A blog story about the project's photography is at:
http://wp.me/p3fbj-4j

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  • A Royal Mail lorry speeds up the darkening M1 motorway loaded with parcels and letters.
    DIRFT019-20-02-2007 .jpg
  • The form of a giant generic warehouse glows from ambient light at the DIRFT warehouse logistics park in Daventry, Northamptonshire England. Bare trees without foliage are seen in the foreground on this cold winter night. We see the building low in the picture and the sky graduates from light into near darkness. This 365 acre site off Junction 18 of the M1 motorway is a hub for road, rail and service infrastructure, some 2.3m sq.ft. of distribution and manufacturing floorspace had been constructed by 2004 and occupiers including Tesco?s, Tibbett & Britten plc, Ingram Micro, Royal Mail, the W.H. Malcolm Group, Eddie Stobart Ltd, Wincanton and Exel, have been attracted to this unique logistics location.
    DIRFT057-20-02-2007 .jpg
  • Red clock hangs from warehouse roof of cross-docking area of of Royal Mail's DIRFT logistics park in Daventry
    DIRFT168-20-02-2007 .jpg
  • In front of an industrial doorway with a safety handrail and near empty parking bay markings, a stencilled arrow points from left to right at the DIRFT warehouse logistics park in Daventry, Northamptonshire England. Bright light glows from the warehouse wall, shining on to the car park creating an almost daylight landscape. This 365 acre site off Junction 18 of the M1 motorway is a hub for road, rail and service infrastructure, some 2.3m sq.ft. of distribution and manufacturing floorspace had been constructed by 2004 and occupiers including Tesco?s, Tibbett & Britten plc, Ingram Micro, Royal Mail, the W.H. Malcolm Group, Eddie Stobart Ltd, Wincanton and Exel, have been attracted to this logistics location.
    DIRFT079-20-02-2007 .jpg
  • Detail of the Siemens Integrated Mail Processor (SIMP) operated by the Royal Mail at their Nine Elms sorting office Vauxhall, London. Developed in the mid-1990s it is the backbone of Royal Mail's system and Nine Elms is the biggest and most modern sorting office in Britain, employing 1,000 people and handling all post coming from/to south London: 1.1 million first-class items a day, 750,000 second class. Royal Mail handles some 82 million posted items a day. They have a statutory duty to provide a delivery service to 27 million addresses in the UK for letters and for parcels weighing up to 20kg. Six days a week they deliver daily to all addresses in the UK and provides a collection service from 115,000 Post Boxes, 16,000 Post Offices, businesses and organizations throughout the UK and distributed through 72 mail centres and 100 distribution centres.
    nine_elms_35.jpg
  • Letters about to be sorted by the Royal Mail operated Siemens Integrated Mail Processor operated at Nine Elms sorting office
    nine_elms_66.jpg
  • Name badges await owners at a corporate rally day, held for 3,000 UK staff at Excel, Docklands.
    Ernst+Young_Academy96-21-09-2007.jpg
  • Squiggles and unreadable notes written on a whiteboard at an auditing companys's London headquarters
    ernst+young382-09-08-2007.jpg
  • Role-play and positive thinking at a counselling workshop held for company staff in Borough, Southwark.
    ernst+young_counsillors15-18-09-2007.jpg
  • Employees of an auditing stride along high on top floor walkways at the company's London headquarters.
    ernst+young201-09-08-2007.jpg
  • Yellow sunflowers brighten up drab offices of an auditing company at their London headquarters
    ernst+young133-09-08-2007.jpg
  • A casually-dressed accountant works in a cluttered office cubicle in an auditing company's London headquarters.
    ernst+young243-09-08-2007.jpg
  • Large arrows coloured red, green and yellow point north, west and east - or up, right and left - in three directions, to offer directions to seminars for accountants during their annual Academy Day held for 3,000 of company London employees at Excel in London's Docklands, England. The people are either confidently pacing forward, standing still to seek guidance or simply spontaneously emerging from the shadows to a brighter future, a moment when freedom of choice is offered and the road ahead dictates their fate. It is a scene of corporate theatre and each employee will attend this fair where motivational pep-talks from executives, outside speakers and gurus will talk to large groups of personnel so their presence on this day away from the office is vital for the year's business ahead.
    Ernst+Young_Academy123-21-09-2007 co...jpg
  • Employees listen to an executive at their corporate rally day, held for 3,000 UK staff at Excel
    Ernst+Young_Academy48-21-09-2007.jpg
  • As evening light fades, bright light from the electricity-hungry Canary Wharf docklands development is supplied by the voltage from electricity cables and supporting struts at an east London sub-station, England. A network of 110 miles of cables have stretched across 542 'L6' pylons across England's Kent countryside, from the coal-fired power station at Dungeness to this location, carrying 40,000 Volts along this network of aluminium cables to power some of London's high supply demands. Insatiable appetites for energy means electricity is now an expensive commodity after climbing oil prices doubled electricity utility bills for some domestic users.
    electricity278-22-01-2008 .jpg
  • Local and nationwide electricity power lines merging with golden reed grasses on Botany Marshes, Swanscombe, Kent.
    electricity414-11-02-2008 .jpg
  • Camouflaged birdspotters peer through binoculars for wildlife at the RSPB's bird and wildlife reserve at Rainham Marshes, Essex
    electricity363-03-02-2008 .jpg
  • Hidden in a wooden hut, a group of bird-spotting ornithologists peer through binoculars at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) rreserve at Rainham Marshes, Essex England. Watching dozens of wintering birds, the group are intensely looking through their optical equipment in anticipation of seeing rare breeds at this Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), a wetland alongside the River Thames, 20 miles from Central London. A narrow slit is open to keep them hidden from sight so leaning on elbows and with a guide sheet in front to identify particular species, they concentrate on their hobby. The RSPB has 200 nature reserves covering almost 130,000 hectares, home to 80% of Britain's rarest or most threatened bird species. Its role is to speak out for birds and wildlife, tackling the problems that threaten the environment.
    electricity385-03-02-2008 .jpg
  • The entrance to the RSPB's bird and wildlife reserve at Rainham Marshes, Essex.
    electricity375-03-02-2008 .jpg
  • The steel girders of an electricity pylon stands close between housing on an estate in Beckton, East London.
    electricity248-22-01-2008 .jpg
  • MDF board obscuring a blackboard advertising enterntainment in a closed pub on wasteland in  Canning Town, Newham..
    electricity226-20-01-2008 .jpg
  • Lady visitor to London's Theatreland gets directions from a passer-by beneath a Freddy Mercury  outside the Dominion Theatre
    electricity092-12-01-2008 .jpg
  • A passer-by stands outside a Chinese Restaurant offering Dim Sum in Chinatown, home to London's ethnic Chinese community.
    electricity120-17-01-2008 .jpg
  • An electricity pylon stands amongst bare trees on a gloomy winter day in woodland near Wrington, North Somerset England.
    electricity057-28-12-2007 .jpg
  • Dropped during construction of electricity pylons, a bolt and its nut lies on a forest floor, Clowes Wood, Chestfield, Kent
    electricity302-25-01-2008 .jpg
  • Thorny twig in the foreground near an electricity pylon behind one foggy morning on Botany Marshes, Swanscombe, Kent
    electricity406-11-02-2008 .jpg
  • Electricity cables stretch into early morning mist above Swanscombe, Kent, London England. In the foreground we see a stack of discs called Insulators which stop the electricity carried in the conductor (the wires strung between each pylon) from jumping to the pylon and then down to earth. The cables disappear into the winter fog creating a Sci-Fi scene of 21st technology. Diagonally, the cables travel across the picture but they are part of a line of 542 pylons that have already crossed 110 miles of English countryside, carrying 40,000 Volts along this network of aluminium cables from Dungeness coal-fired power station to West Ham sub station in London's East End - to power the West End's high energy supply demands.
    electricity407-11-02-2008 .jpg
  • Wearing a company wastecoat and blue rubber gloves, the uniform of a Holiday Inn employee, a man of Black ethnicity bends forward to wipe the glass revolving doors at the entrance of this hotel in Paris. Nearby is the man's trolley containing janitorial cleaning products such as a mop and bucket, towels, cloth rolls, atomiser sprays, detergents and tissues needed to maintain the high standards of this motel chain. Coincidentally, a customer is also bending down to re-arrange something in her baggage and leaning at the same angle as the cleaner.
    esa_guiana02113-08-2007.jpg
  • Parked on the apron at Paris Orly Airport, a lone pilot of the French national airline Air France, leans out of his right-hand seat's cockpit window of his Boeing 777-328/ER aircraft (F-GSQT). It is a bright morning at this international hub for Air France and without help from ground staff, the silver-haired gentleman who may be the captain and commander of the aircraft (because of age and seat position) has decided to get on with the job of cleaning his window himself much like a driver wiping away flies from his car windscreen. Here however, this chore being performed approximately six meters off the ground so safety is vital - just as a clear front view for the flight-deck crew before their flight. Attached to the plane is the mobile walkway, the air bridge, that awaits boarding passengers but no 'ramp agent' is below.  .
    esa_guiana02513-08-2007.jpg
  • Member country flags on Ariane 5 rocket booster in Europropulsion's Booster Integration Building at European Space Agency..
    esa_guiana19715-08-2007.jpg
  • Standing on weathered concrete at an old launchpad from a bygone age, space tourists stop to photograph the current Ariane 5 launchpad while on a tour of the European Space Agency at Kourou, French Guiana. They are mostly Japanese, representing their B-SAT communications satellite which is to be sent into orbit later that night alongside a US-made Hughes Corporation and Lockheed Martin technology. An American NASA space technician walks past the four Japanese as they hold cameras that record their souvenirs of a memorable day at this space facility deep in the South American rainforest. The orange bags carried by all are gas masks. Should the out of sight rocket booster explode or leak liguid propellant, dangerous fumes might overcome the visitors.
    esa_guiana09114-08-2007.jpg
  • Writer Alain de Botton stands by a mural of a launching Roskosmos Soyuz rocket while researching his book, The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work (Hamish Hamilton, UK 2009) at ESA's Kourou Spaceport
    esa_guiana11114-08-2007.jpg
  • Arianespace hosting post-launch party for European Space Agency Hughes network Systems and Lockheed Martin clients at Kourou.
    esa_guiana15715-08-2007.jpg
  • Rusting Europropulsion Ariane 5 rocket booster parts lie on tropical wasteland at European Space Agency's Kourou space center.
    esa_guiana18515-08-2007.jpg
  • Electrical cable cabinets in Europropulsion's Booster Integration Building at European Space Agency's Kourou space center..
    esa_guiana22315-08-2007.jpg
  • Holding her doll, a young white child wearing a pink dress explores the Délice Restaurant in old Kourou, French Guiana, South America. The daughter of French parents who are in this French-administered colony in connection with the nearby European Space Agency (ESA). The girl is confident enough to leave her parents' side and appear in an open doorway. On the other side of the wall is a giant brightly-painted mural depicting a more traditional side of life in this tropical country. The word Guyane is the French name for Guiana. A female in national costume stands near a palm tree, local produce and vegetation. Meanwhile a dark-skinned Creole man sits on a stool smoking a cigarette chatting to unseen friends - a barfly occupying his usual lunchtime seat. It is a scene of internationalism, cross-culture and youth versus old age. .
    esa_guiana20415-08-2007.jpg
  • Technician manager with Ariane 5 rocket booster in Europropulsion's Booster Integration Building at European Space Agency..
    esa_guiana19215-08-2007.jpg
  • Young technician constructs European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) Jules Verne module at Kourou Spaceport.
    esa_guiana29516-08-2007.jpg
  • Satellite dishes in a ghetto housing estate in town of Kourou in French Guiana, home of the European Space Agency's Spaceport.
    esa_guiana35316-08-2007.jpg
  • A VT Merlin satellite tracking dish appears to blow clouds across a blue sky at the Diane Tracking station, French Guiana
    esa_guiana32817-08-2007.jpg
  • Young man's striped suit at a graduate expo fair where company job recruiters meet young people starting work
    grad_fair14-07-03-2008 .jpg
  • Young job-seekers get advice at a graduate expo fair where company job recruiters meet young people starting work
    grad_fair06-07-03-2008 .jpg
  • Straightening one's tie at a graduate expo fair where company job recruiters meet young people starting work
    grad_fair46-07-03-2008 .jpg
  • Entrance to a vacant British Inventors Society (BIS) at their stand at an inventors fair in Alexandra Palace
    inventors_fair01-19-10-2007.jpg
  • An Iranian motorcycle safety concept is demonstrated by an entrepreneur at an inventors fair in Alexandra Palace, London
    inventors_fair08-19-10-2007.jpg
  • The Walkodile for better child safety is demonstrated by an entrepreneur at an inventors fair in Alexandra Palace, London
    inventors_fair36-19-10-2007.jpg
  • Technicians and managers taste new biscuit product in the experimental kitchen of the Delacre production factory in Lambermont
    lambermont-biscuits138.jpg
  • Quality control workers sort through sub-standard Moments biscuits at the Delacre biscuit production factory in Lambermont
    lambermont-biscuits206.jpg
  • Finished Moments biscuits blur on a conveyor belt at the Delacre production factory in Lambermont, Belgium.
    lambermont-biscuits229.jpg
  • Quality control worker sorts through sub-standard Moments biscuits at the Delacre biscuit production factory in Lambermont
    lambermont-biscuits313.jpg
  • The last person to leave the office is a conscientious lady employee of the biscuit and snack manufacturer United Biscuits at their UK headquarters at Hayes Park North near London England. Seen in a window surrounded bright ceiling lights, the female sits at her desk tying up loose ends before leaving for the day. As darkness falls outside, the red lights from tail lights streak across the picture and the green grass on a landscaped bank is lit by light posts. None of her work colleages have stayed on, preferring to depart to see their families at home on this winter night. Perhaps this career woman is single and an ambitious member of the team who can dedicate more time to her job..
    united_biscuits_294.jpg
  • Looking up towards majestically tall 100 year-old mature Ash trees and blue skies, the sun glints off a window pane in an Edwardian age semi-detached house on Ruskin Park, Denmark Hill, SE24 (its post code) South London England. It is a beauitiful winter afternoon in this inner-city suburban district of Britain's capital, approximately 5 miles south from the River Thames. A couple are walking their dogs past an elegant line of period homes that were completed in 1908, the age of innovative building in the new 20th Century. The properties overlook the borough park named after John Ruskin, the renowned artist and commentator who lived in nearby Herne Hill. It looks an affluent area, a prosperous location to invest in a mortgage in uncertain times with market prices falling during the credit crunch and recession.
    ernst+young_counsillors64-09-02-2008...jpg
  • Commuters to-and-fro in the heat of a city summer during a 3-day underground tube strike in September 2007. This is Victoria mainline station during a summer heatwave. It's a transport hub for tube lines, buses and overground train routes and we see masses of pedestrians and buses reflected in the glass of a bush shelter window. As a result of the industrial action, the buses are full so the quickest way of reaching one's destination is to walk. An official points out directions, someone shields his eyes from the sun, a lady walks with her hands in pockets, the 239 bus to Victoria approaches and sightseeing tours sign advertises tickets. People are seen in differing scales and sizes.
    tube_strike_commuters10-04-09-2007.jpg
  • Gazing out of the window at an inner-city landscape from of a commuter train between Denmark Hill and Victoria, South London
    tube_strike_commuters01-04-09-2007.jpg
  • Commuters and no smoking sign on a carriage travelling into London between Denmark Hill and London Bridge stations
    london_bridge_commuters003-12-09-200...jpg
  • Upper-deck chair and wheel with navigator's carpet board a traditional dhoni fishing boat on the Indian Ocean, Maldives.
    maldives223-14-11-2007.jpg
  • An aerial view of unidentified islands seen from a regional aircraft passing overhead the atolls and islands to the north Malé, capital of the Indian Ocean Republic of the Maldives. We see the perfectly clear blue sea surrounding the islands and tiny sandbanks of white coral beach sand, all of which are in jeopardy of rising sea levels as global warming makes sea level locations like this vulnerable to being overwhelmed. The only sign of life is the tiny island in the bottom right of frame where holiday resort accommodation ring this dot in the ocean. The Maldives comprise of twenty-six atolls, featuring 1,192 coral islands of which 80 are holiday resorts with 200 inhabited by indigenous communities. This Islamic nation of 298 sq km (115 sq miles), lie seven hundred kilometres (435 miles) south-west of Sri Lanka..
    maldives170-13-11-2007.jpg
  • A tuna fish's sharp yellow fin protrudes from shredded ice at the Cyprea Marine Foods processing factory on Himmafushi Island, Maldives. The 50kg carcasses have been swimming across the Indian Ocean non-stop since birth and having just been line-caught by freelance boat crews who share profits for only high-quality fish that passes stringent health tests. The tuna has been encased in ice since being landed at sea to keep a low-temperature body core so the workers cut out the prime flesh as quickly as possible before boxing the resulting chunks of steak for export by air to Europe and in particular for customers such as UK's Sainsbury's supermarket. The Sri Lankan butchers are ex-fishermen and widowers, having lost their families during the Tsunami. Using extremely sharp knives, they skillfully remove valuable meat and throw away the rest.
    maldives135-12-11-2007.jpg
  • A portrait of President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, President of the Republic of Maldives stands under a tropical sun on Meedu Island.
    maldives175-13-11-2007.jpg
  • Imported foodstuffs and and expensive sundries on display in a side street shop window in Male, Maldives
    maldives378-15-11-2007.jpg
  • With blood and guts on the blue deck, a fisherman from the Maldives hoses down a yellow fin tuna on the floor of a dhoni boat in the Indian Ocean. After clubbing it death, he has removed its respiratory organs with sharp knives and washes it down with a hose. Next it will be plunged into ice containers to cool the flesh, reducing the risk of self-deteriorating flushed blood which renders it unfit for consumption under EU law (its live internal core temperature is 40 degrees centigrade). When as many fish have been caught (often weighing 50kg) before dark using hand and line method, rather than nets, the boat presses on to the processing factory at Himmafushi where they're filleted and boxed for export to Europe and in particular, for UK supermarkets like Sainsbury's.
    maldives281-14-11-2007.jpg
  • Maldivian crewmen arrive home late after a day's yellow fin tuna fishing aboard a dhoni fishing boat on the Indian Ocean
    maldives344-14-11-2007.jpg
  • The head of a freshly-caught yellow fin tuna fish lies inert on a filleting table at a refrigerated processing factory on Himmafushi island, Maldives. The 50kg carcass has been swimming across the Indian Ocean non-stop since birth and just line-caught by freelance boat crews who share profits for only high-quality fish that passes stringent health tests. The tuna has been in ice since being landed to keep a low-temperature body core so the workers cut out the prime flesh as quickly as possible before boxing the resulting chunks of steak for export by air to Europe and in particular for customers such as UK's Sainsbury's supermarket. The filleting is performed by Sri Lankan ex-fishermen and widowers, having lost their families during the Tsunami. Using sharp knives, they skillfully remove valuable meat and throw away the rest.
    maldives105-12-11-2007.jpg
  • Two employees of Cyprea Marine Foods fillet freshly-caught  yellow fin tuna fish at the company's refrigerated processing factory on Himmafushi island, Maldives. The 50kg carcasses have been swimming across the Indian Ocean non-stop since birth and just line-caught by freelance boat crews who share profits for only high-quality fish that passes stringent health tests. The tuna has been in ice since being landed to keep a low-temperature body core so the workers cut out the prime flesh as quickly as possible before boxing the resulting chunks of steak for export by air to Europe and in particular for customers such as UK's Sainsbury's supermarket. The Sri Lankan workers are ex-fishermen and widowers, having lost their families during the Tsunami. Using extremely sharp knives, they skillfully remove valuable meat and throw away the rest.
    maldives89-12-11-2007.jpg
  • Many pairs of anti-slip Acifort Wellington boots are awaiting users at the New England seafood suppliers in Chessington, London England. Made by British company Dunlop, these boots are designed as protection against the cold , insulating wearers in refrigerated workplaces such as this facility where fresh fish is processed ready for supplying UK supermarkets. Either showing their soles or standing on the floor alongside the wearers' outdoor footwear, they are coloured various shades of clean off-white or soiled cream. New England Seafood is a major supplier of fresh and frozen premium sustainable fish and seafood in the UK and one of the largest importers of fresh tuna. The Wellington boot -or wellie - was worn and popularised by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington and fashionable among the British aristocracy in the early 19th century.
    new_england55-27-11-2007.jpg
  • The tail and sharp barbs of a freshly-caught yellow fin tuna fish lies inert on a filleting table at a refrigerated processing factory on Himmafushi island, Maldives. The 50kg carcass has been swimming across the Indian Ocean non-stop since birth and just line-caught by freelance boat crews who share profits for only high-quality fish that passes stringent health tests. The tuna has been in ice since being landed at sea to keep a low-temperature body core so the workers cut out the prime flesh as quickly as possible before boxing the resulting chunks of steak for export by air to Europe and in particular for customers such as UK's Sainsbury's supermarket. The filleting is performed by Sri Lankan ex-fishermen and widowers, having lost their families during the Tsunami. Using sharp knives, they skillfully remove valuable meat and throw the rest.
    maldives98-12-11-2007.jpg
  • On the apron of Malé International Airport, Maldives, a Sri Lankan Airlines A340-300 series Airbus prepares for departure
    maldives432-15-11-2007.jpg
  • Mixed gender office with men working alongside ladies wearing the hejab at Fisheries Ministry of the Maldives government
    maldives38-12-11-2007.jpg
  • A young girl pauses her duties, sitting at her desk with work colleagues at work in the background of an open plan office
    new_england44-27-11-2007.jpg
  • A detail showing the fine stitching of a cotton dress by couturier Margaret Howell in the company's workshop factory in Edmonton, North London. England. In close-up, the eye is drawn into the centre of focus where the buttons are held in a criss-cross stich in its four holes. There are pins in this still prototype design as it evolves from an idea on paper to an actual garment. The fine check pattern of its fabric is beautifully sewn together in this fine and intricate dress. Howell is one of Britain's more understated of couture brands alongside more flamboyant personalities. Howell admits to being "inspired by the methods by which something is made .. enjoying the tactile quality of natural fabrics such as tweeds, linen and cotton in a relaxed, natural and lived in look."
    margaret_howell06123-05-2007 .jpg
  • A beautifully simple white cotton shirt by couturier Margaret Howell is displayed in the company's workshop factory in Edmonton, North London. England. Ironed without creases, the garment has been set on a dress making tailor's dummy made by Kennett and Lindsell of Romford Essex. The pure white shirt is seen against a similarly-toned white wall and lit by daylight. Howell is one of Britain's more understated of couture brands alongside more flamboyant personalities. Howell admits to being "inspired by the methods by which something is made .. enjoying the tactile quality of natural fabrics such as tweeds, linen and cotton in a relaxed, natural and lived in look."
    margaret_howell20223-05-2007 .jpg
  • Preparing places before British couture designer Margaret Howell's Autumn fashion show in her design studio and shop
    margaret_howell_show015-17-09-2007.jpg
  • Make-up and hair stylists ready models at British couture designer Margaret Howell's Autumn fashion show in her design studio
    margaret_howell_show046-17-09-2007.jpg
  • Girl model starts her catwalk at British couture designer Margaret Howell's Autumn fashion show in her design studio
    margaret_howell_show134-17-09-2007.jpg
  • About to board their Sri Lankan airlines flight to the Maldives, crowds of economy class passengers stand and make an orderly queue when their flight has been called by ground staff at London Heathrow airport England. Lines of people from all nations can be seen reflected in a large window that also overlooks the airport apron where their front-facing Airbus A340-300 aircraft awaits them, its flight-deck crew is seen in the cockpit readying their plane for the long night journey ahead. Catering service trucks are parked alongside the aircraft, loading supplies and all is on schedule from this large intercontinental airport hub to the much smaller island airfield in the middle of the Indian Ocean, the idyllic destination for holidaying Europeans.
    maldives01-10-11-2007.jpg
  • Two employees of the Japanese aircraft manufacturer Mitsubishi sit in a full-scale model of their MRJ at the Paris Air Show, Le Bourget France. Seated in different rows of this stylish small regional jet, they awkwardly stare expressionless, straight ahead and although the seats are real, the mock-up fuselage is in the middle of an exhibition hall. The MRJ is a next generation jetliner with 70 or 90 seat economy class configurations, the first regional jet to adopt composite materials for its wings and vertical fins on significant scale. The Paris Air Show expo is a commercial air show, organised by the French aerospace industry who demonstrate military and civilian aircraft equipment to interested customers.
    paris_air_show028-20-06-2007.jpg
  • Oxygen mask survival equipment in airliner cabin at Mojave airport desert facility, awaiting recycling for scrap value.
    aviation_graveyard09-09-04-2008.jpg
  • Airliners and grass promote the environment at engine manufacturer CFM stand during the Paris Air Show exhibition at Le Bourget
    paris_air_show087-20-06-2007.jpg
  • In mid-day heat of the arid Arizona desert, a complete set of main landing gear undercarriage stands upright amid a field of similar items from airliners at the storage facility at Davis Monthan, Tucson. Here, the fate of the world's retired civil airliners is decided by age or cooling economy. Cannibalised for still-working parts or recycled for scrap, their aluminium is worth more than their sum total. Elsewhere, assorted aircraft wrecks sit abandoned in the scrub minus their bellies, legs or wings like dying birds. After a lifetime of safe commercial flight, wings are clipped and cockpits sliced apart by huge guillotines, cutting through their engineering. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_corbis42-15-08-1998.jpg
  • Legs and scale model of an A380 airliner displayed at Airbus/EADS stand during the Paris Air Show exhibition Le Bourget
    paris_air_show199-20-06-2007.jpg
  • In mid-day heat of the arid Sonoran desert sits the gutted remains of a Lockheed Tri-Star airliner at the storage facility at Mojave, California. Here, the fate of the world?s retired civil airliners is decided by age or a cooling economy and are either cannibalised for still-working parts or recycled for scrap, their aluminium fuselages worth more than their sum total. After a lifetime of safe commercial flight, wings are clipped and cockpits sliced apart by huge guillotines, cutting through the sleek curves. Elsewhere, Jumbo jets, Airbuses and assorted Boeings sit abandoned in the scrub minus their bellies, legs or wings like dying birds. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903. .
    aviation_corbis39-15-08-1998.jpg
  • Two military officers from Ecuador admire an air-to-ground PARS 3 LR missile at the Paris Air Show, Le Bourget France
    paris_air_show74-20-06-2007.jpg
  • Man touches scale model of A380 airliner displayed at the Airbus/EADS stand during the Paris Air Show exhibition at Le Bourget
    paris_air_show215-20-06-2007.jpg
  • In mid-day heat of the arid Sonoran desert sit the remains of Boeing 747 airliners at the storage facility at Mojave, California. Here, the fate of the world?s retired civil airliners is decided by age or a cooling economy and are either cannibalised for still-working parts or recycled for scrap, their aluminium fuselages worth more than their sum total. After a lifetime of safe commercial flight, wings are clipped and cockpits sliced apart by huge guillotines, cutting through their once-magnificant engineering. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_corbis40-15-08-1998.jpg
  • Rolls of turf are rolled up by exhibition workers at the end of a long day at the Paris Air Show, Le Bourget France. Removing the real grass from at the CFM stand (a company formed from SNECMA and General Electric jet engines) that manufactures a family of 7,200 commercial and military jet engines for Airbus and Boeing airliners. The men bend over to make a tight roll of organic lawn to keep it fresh and watered overnight before another hot day in this hall. Alongside them, a giant turbofan engine is seen, its huge turbine blades lit by artificial lights. The Paris Air Show is a commercial air show, organised by the French aerospace industry whose purpose is to demonstrate military and civilian aircraft to potential customers.
    paris_air_show224-20-06-2007.jpg
  • Airliner and jet engines in mid-day heat of arid Sonoran Desert at Mojave airport facility, awaiting recycling for scrap value.
    aviation_graveyard07-16-03-2008.jpg
  • Racist references to the ethnic black race sprayed in blue aerosol on a River Thames defence wall at Grays, Essex
    river_business69-31-08-2007.jpg
  • An English Cross of St. George flag flaps in a strong breeze on a flag pole near electricity pylons in Grays,  Thames Gateway
    river_business182-31-08-2007.jpg
  • A greasy spoon cafe fry-up breakfast for a worker surrounded by dirty crockery left by his mates in industrial Grays, Essex
    river_business43-31-08-2007.jpg
  • Sign on lamp post telling HGV drivers to Park Tidy in an overnight lorry park on the A126 in industrial Grays, Thames Gateway
    river_business175-31-08-2007.jpg
  • Following UK commercial driving law, a lorry driver relaxes by reading in a window at the M40 motorway services in Warwickshire, England. Leaning back while engrossed in his book, the man is sitting in sunlight on this summer's day. Outside is a poster advertising the premium ice cream brand, Magnum. A girl is shown also lounging about enjoying a Magnum on a beautiful sun-kissed beach, with the sun reflecting on a calm sea. We see Magnum's web site and their products of Classic and White chocolate snacks in their wrappers. The man is oblivious to the nature of the ad but it lends a sense of paradise versus reality, between the fantasy of youth, natural beauty and the reality of an older working man on the road.
    truck_stop4-30-07-2007.jpg
  • Teenage love graffiti has been written in chalk on the Thames flood wall located on the Saxon Shore Way at Gravesend
    river_business227-10-09-2007.jpg
  • The Protor & Gamble detergents factory complex dominates the pre-Norman but restored St Clement's church at West Thurrock
    river_business125-31-08-2007.jpg
  • A lorry driver is handed his change after buying a burger at a fast food trailer in Grays, Essex England. The large man has parked his vehicle in a truck stop car park for an early evening food snack. The lady serving him works in an outside mobile burger bar that stands at this popular spot for working men as they pass-by this industrial corridor on the River Thames. Meanwhile, the serving woman's friend sits sunning himself and scratching his head beneath a film poster for the British comedy 'Run Fat Boy, Run' with actor Simon Pegg. Further in the distance, the English Cross of St George flutters and a line of electricity pylons take a transmission cables into central London, taking power into the capital. This south Essex town in the Thames Gateway, is the location for dramatic increases of new housing developments.
    river_business187-31-08-2007.jpg
  • Nazi swastika and BNP graffiti scrawled on a grubby lorry drivers' toilet wall in Grays, Thames Gateway
    river_business190-31-08-2007.jpg
  • A Polish football shirt belonging to Piotr dries on a hangar in an open Ibis hotel window in industrial West Thurrock
    river_business26-31-08-2007.jpg
  • An inconguous landscape of modern industrial architecture and a foreground of a patchy, poorly-made service road at Northfleet, near Gravesend, Kent England. This is Kimberly Clark's Northfleet Mill which manufactures paper-based products for the hygiene and health market such as tissues and nappies (diapers). The word concrete has been sprayed by aerosol on the ground along with a locating X that marks a confusing and ironic spot for concrete to be found. The high-sided blue walls of the mill factory are smooth and unlike the rough road and to the right the sky is overcast while on the right, it is blue. Kimberly-Clark is a leading global health and hygiene company employing more than 55,000 people worldwide and posting sales of $16.7 billion.
    river_business271-10-09-2007.jpg
  • The shadows of rusting industrial pipes and gate valves on a abandoned factory site now on wasteland in Northfleet Thames Gateway
    river_business263-10-09-2007.jpg
  • As winter fog lifts, the waters of the River Thames clear to reveal an eerie landscape of industrial river life and architecture at Gravesend, Kent England. It is late-morning and in the hazy distance on the northern river bank, steam clouds near the double twin chimneys of npower's 1400MW coal fired Tilbury power station (powering 1.4 million homes using ?biomass? fuels and low-sulphur coal) which rise above the passing ghostly bulk of a cargo freighter on its last miles of its voyage from open sea into the Thames Estuary and on to Tilbury Docks. Historically, the Thames has long been a route for shipping that kept the capital supplied and although the docks have seen huge decreases in traffic and volume since the second world war, Tilbury remains a busy hub for containerized vessels arrivng from all over the world.
    river_business320-11-02-2008 .jpg
  • The cargo ship "CMA CGM Turkey" eases past two elderly shipping spotters who log its details on the River Thames
    river_business373-12-02-2008 .jpg
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Richard Baker Photography

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