We are Teesside photo-shoot #UTB

 

 

I was the ‘new girl’ at work and secretly wondering how I could make my mark – prove they had made the right decision in hiring me. On my way to the posh coffee machine I overheard a voice say “Oh please, not more pictures of pipes” …

‘… but I could make it beautiful’, I thought – and then said it out loud to the managers meeting.  The Chief Executive turned his steely gaze on me for the first time ever and said “Do it“.

So I did.  Well – a group of photography students at Cleveland College of Art & Design did – my creative input came in right at the end and much to everyone’s surprise, it was orange.

Those of us brought up on Teesside become oblivious to the factories and chimneys in the background.  People visiting from outside the area can be shocked at how close we live to the chemical industries.

This was our first time so close up and in some places it was eerily silent – how to capture that feeling?

The National Skills Academy branding was orange, but it wasn’t just that.  In my mind I knew if we washed the pictures in orange it would surely give the ‘other world’ feeling that I had on the day.

I presented the original images and then the orange-washed versions – happily for me, our CEO went for the unconventional.

The photo-art was on display in the Darlington offices for 5 years, up until the company rebranded.  I made some calls and the pictures were donated and put on display at NEPIC and Middlesbrough College STEM Centre – back at home on Teesside.

L-R:  Danny Lowe – Photographer, Shaun Cook – Photography Tutor, Dr Ian Mains – Business Development Director at National Skills Academy Process Industries

Acknowledgements

I loved this project and to this day I am grateful to everyone who gave their time to make it happen:  Phil Jones (CEO) for saying yes and Bev Robinson for opening doors and letting me run off with it. 

We could not have done any of this without Terry Waldron, Corporate PR Manager at Sembcorp Utilities for being so generous with time and knowledge on our guided tour of the Wilton site.

Shaun Cook, who was then Lecturer at Cleveland College of Art and Design and the winning photographers Danny Lowe and Roo, the winning photographers.

Danny actually went up to Eston Nab in his own time to take the beautiful night-landscape pictures – this is where we live.

We are Teesside.