Working Man

I made this series of work in the second semester of my second year at Newcastle University. The project was realised in a series of ‘photographic’ woodcuts, depicting scenes of every day jobs undertaken, traditionally, by men. By highlighting these seemingly mundane jobs I aimed to elevate their status and to compare their labour to the labour of an artist, disciplines that are often and understandably never compared.

The series of five woodcuts vary in size, the main work being a large print of a rubbish lorry, titled ‘Refuse’. The aim of this print was to create a pixelated image of two nameless workmen quietly and efficiently carrying out their job. The voyeuristic nature of the photograph also highlights the distance that we usually view these men from.