Power

The most fundamental element of the mills is power as the purpose and reason for the mills existence is industry. Industry requires power and in the case of the Yorkshire textiles industry in the nineteenth century, power was usually provided via steam. Dalton Mills impressive and ornate architecture was rivalled by its original steam engines, said to be the largest in the world at that time and housed in a lavishly decorated engine house.

This theme reflects the inner workings of the mills, the nuts and bolts that made the place function. The surviving parts of the power systems and space to accommodate them provide a pragmatic subject matter now in a romantic setting and to convey this was the challenge.

With the experience from The Mechanics Shed, the photography was progressing and two photographs in particular seemed to capture the contrast of the pragmatic and the romantic. These two photographs, one detail another space complement each other when adjacent, so this enables a new configuration within the folded format.

The photographic material supports the more extensive text available for this subject than for previous themes and the result works as a balanced document both conceptually and visually.