The Long Look

‘The Long Look’ is a series of 5 photographs showing the Stewartby brickworks in Bedfordshire. Collins takes 'record pictures' in the tradition of late 19th and early 20th century industrial and engineering photographs, developing large-scale plate camera images into large digital prints. The images have great clarity, definition and detail but no modern scientific function. They show the changes made by man to the landscape but are intended as descriptions rather than explanations. Stewartby brickworks are hugely significant to Bedford’s 20th century history. They are a key part of Bedford’s manufacturing heritage and have employed thousands of Italians, South Asians and Afro-Caribbeans, helping to make Bedford a truly multi-cultural town.