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iMechE exhibition

19 images Created 9 Mar 2009

Richard Baker's exhibition draws from his work with writer Alain de Botton's book project The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work (Penguin 2009).

The 16 images are captioned by selected text from de Botton's writing from the book's chapters and provided courtesy of the writer. They are paired by subject and offer a rather different context from the book although many did not make it into print.

The venue is the Museum of the History of Science, Broad Street, Oxford and full directions can be seen here: http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/about/location-and-directions/

The pictures and the in-laid text are for sale and you can reserve by emailing me at richard@bakerpictures.com

Both Alain and I would be delighted by your visit and I'm happy to answer questions though I'm giving a talk at the Museum on June 8th about the project and my other photography projects.

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  • A father supports his son on his shoulders as a giant four-engined airliner passes directly overhead, about to land at London's Heathrow airport, England. Seen from a low angle, we see the graphic cruciform shape of the aircraft as it screams past two powerful airfield landing lights that help guide arriving aircraft to the runway. The backlit scene is largely monochrome apart from the boys red t-shirt and yellow-faced watch which are lit by flash, underexposing the overcast sky. Prior to 9/11, British airport authorities and police tolerated plane spotters near runway fences but with heightened terrorist alerts, these enthusiasts are told to move on or face arrest. 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_corbis13-17-08-1997.jpg
  • One a hot November night, a Sri Lankan Airlines A340-300 series Airbus - registration number 4R-ADE - is bathed in high-intensity floodlights on the apron at Malé international airport in the Republic of the Maldives. Surrounded by passenger steps, servicing vehicles for catering and the loading of baggage and air freight in the below-floor holds, the aircraft is readied for its next flight to Colombo, another journey for this aircraft as it travels across the world's air routes.
    maldives434-15-11-2007.jpg
  • A tailor uses an Eastman Bluestreak II cloth cutting machine at couturier Margaret Howell's Edmonton workshop factory
    margaret_howell00723-05-2007 .jpg
  • Young technician constructs European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) Jules Verne module at Kourou Spaceport.
    esa_guiana29316-08-2007.jpg
  • An Ariane 5 rocket booster in Europropulsion's Booster Integration Building at European Space Agency, Kourou..
    esa_guiana18915-08-2007.jpg
  • Sterile technician constructs European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) Jules Verne module at Kourou Spaceport.
    esa_guiana28316-08-2007.jpg
  • Night-time satellite rocket launch into cloud of Spaceway 3 for Hughes network Systems and BSAT-3a for Lockheed Martin.
    esa_guiana13815-08-2007.jpg
  • A hot tropical landscape with water tap and satellite tracking dish at the VT Merlin Diane Tracking station, French Guiana
    esa_guiana33216-08-2007.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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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.
    electricity283-22-01-2008 .jpg
  • Quality control worker sorts through sub-standard Moments biscuits at the Delacre biscuit production factory in Lambermont
    lambermont-biscuits249.jpg
  • Foodstuffs progress through real-time ordering and delivery technology at Sainsbury's 700,000 sq ft distribution depot
    sainsburys_depot086-09-05-2007.jpg
  • As winter fog lifts, the waters of the River Thames clear to reveal an eerie landscape of river life and industrial architecture at Gravesend, Kent England. It is late-morning and in the hazy distance tall old cranes that once lifted cargo from the holds of ships - before the development of containerization - rise from the waters on the south bank opposte the new Tilbury Docks. On its surface, a seagull dips to catch a fish. 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 Docks (Europe's only specialist short-sea terminal, handling 120,000 containers each year.) remain a busy hub for containerized vessels arrivng from all over the world.
    river_business339-12-02-2008 .jpg
  • The Hamburg-registered Mol Caledon ship passes the giant dredging machinery at npower's Tilbury power station on the  River Thames northern shore, Essex England. Having just departed from Tilbury Docks with the evening sun glinting off the stern's reflective surfaces, stacks of tall containers are heaped high but evenly spread for stability along the massive vessel. They head out towards open sea, navigating through deeper water channels that naturally get shallower as silt chokes the waterways. 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.
    thames_ships172-26-06-2007.jpg
  • Giant cargo container ship on the River Thames eases downstream past old dock cranes at Gravesend, towards open sea at Southend
    river_business379-12-02-2008 .jpg
  • With a hand raised to the driver, a station employee waves the departure of a train at London Bridge mainline station.
    london_bridge_commuters012-12-09-200...jpg
  • The crew aboard a traditional dhoni fishing boat prepare for another day's fishing for tuna on the Indian Ocean, Maldives.
    maldives220-14-11-2007.jpg
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