The one where Robin visits a factory…
Who would have thought that a pipe factory could be so interesting?
A couple of weeks ago I went to visit Anri-Louise’s dad at his factory where they manufacture pipes of all shapes and sizes. I loved the photo opportunities and was amazed at how beautiful pipes could be! It’s after shoots like these that I dream of having a job as a features photo journalist …
The factory through some filthy windows
End Plates
Howitzer Barrel? No, really large pipe
Pipe production
Ready to be shipped
Just pipes, stacked in the yard
I see light at the end of the (pipe)
Rolling and tying
Part of the production line
Loyal employee
Plastic shavings in a shortened pipe
I love this angle...
Pipeflo - a factory where the employees seem genuinely happy...
Pipeflo’s factory is in an industrial area in Pretoria, South Africa …
67 Comments on “The one where Robin visits a factory…”
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They called me weed
I have been blogging here since around April 2011 - my little place on the blogosphere to express myself creatively. As a teenager I used to write a diary - in fact, as a 17-year-old living in Belgium, I wrote religiously every day. Fortunately the Internet didn't exist back then because my ramblings as a teenager were ever-so-slightly dark, cynical and depressing. You won't find much of that here. Also, mostly, I try not to get too deep or philosophical in this forum - I'd like my photography to uplift and inspire, and, where I can, I try to bring a bit of humour into my writing too. I've been fortunate enough to travel extensively and have made many friends across the globe. This is my spot to keep in touch with them.
“storage” ready to be shipped is beautiful… reminds of that old Alfred Hitchcock movie “Vertigo” …very dramatic feel to it.
Beautiful pics Robster
Hehe, will tell my dad his factory has blog status. You should put a link to his website and claim commission! That a pipeline can make for photos completely beats me.
Neat pics. Where is the factory located?
It is in Pretoria, South Africa… I’m not sure of the industrial area’s name exactly…
Great pictures looking at otherwise forgotten details. I love the plastic shavings and the ready to be shipped-reminds me of looking through an eye hole.
These photos are really amazing. Something I wouldn’t normally look twice at seems so interesting now.
Great angles and I love the close up of the local employee.
Thanks for sharing!
Hard working people!
Interesting photos. Nice pattern and shapes on the pictures. Good content. Love it
Good job!
This is great. Industry is often overlooked when it comes to art. Your pictures capture more than pipe, they capture what our country is all about. Too much? I don’t think so…
Whoever knew factory photos could look so cool?
Great job!
Wow!!
You managed to take very good industrial pictures!
This is a very good job!
I particularly like this one “Plastic shavings in a shortened pipe”
I have a photo blog too… I’d be really pleased if you had a look
http://jibsphotography.wordpress.com/
See you around!
super cool pix dog
Thanks for sharing your eye’s view on things. You’re very observant and you capture what you see very well. Connie
http://7thandvine.wordpress.com/
Well, it looks like a true photographer/photo journalist can make anything interesting…even pipe factories!
Very nice photos and congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
Wow, this picture ( http://roobo69.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/rm16214.jpg ) is just incredible…
What a great creative idea and photos!
love em’!
Great compositions and camera work and no feeling of intrusion by viewer/camera. Lovely stuff. Thanks for sharing these.
Great photos. Best of luck with the dream.
Gorgeous photos. You have an eye for beauty!
Awesome pics!
Some brilliant photos… i like ready to be shipped, its like a vortex
Who knew pipes could be beautiful? Thanks for giving us a different perspective on something so ordinary. COngratulations on being Freshly Pressed.
Really liked the portrait photo.
Nice pics!
the first picture; through some filthy windows is really nice too
Love taking photos in abandoned factories. It is this eroding charm that magnetizes. Gr8 pics.
robin – love your Ipx pipes – do they play – do they make music? or only when they rattle and rumble and crash onto steel?
with smiles from auckland new zealand
loved your photos. nice work. thanks
amazing article! such a good way to start my day!! seeing hardworking people would never fail to inspire me!!! keep it up… c”,)
http://travellersdiningdepot.wordpress.com/
Wow.. these pictures are amazing. I love your picture of the loyal employee. Great lighting in that shot!
Awesome post! Thank you!
love the portrait fourth from the bottom. awesome light and great expression. nice work.
Great industrial art-type photos. Congrats on FP
Thanks for the insight!
Man, you got some mad skills taking these pictures. Good job!
I love the look of industrial photo’s. Some great captures here.
Like your photos and your camera work
nice!
Nice photos. Good shots!
creative shoot….
Yes, it has to be out-of-country (overseas from US) -> No OSHA safety gear on the workers: No hardhats, no gloves being used – much less the expensive cut-proof gloves we are required to use here in the “States”, no hearing protection, no coveralls or aprons. No Z-87 OSHA-rated safety glasses with high-impact sideshields.
There’s reasons it costs too much to build things (anything!) in the US any more. I hope the guys remain safe despite the hazards. 8<)
Few minor items you may wish to address: The "plastic shavings" are steel shaving inside a steel pipe. The coiled pipe is the plastic pipe, as the the "light in the end of the tunnel" stacked pipes. (Can you see how the trimmed remnants are subtly different between the twisted steel bits and the flaky, slightly torn-looking "fuzzy" remnants of the plastic pipe?) Usually, we call the "end plates" in the first picture "flanges"
Thanks for your time. Robert
PS. Yes – I'm picky. Been fabricating and building with pipe commercially since the mid-70's. Proud of what the workers up here have done, hope the guys down there will be alright working.
Re the shavings – actually it is a plastic pipe and those are plastic shavings (I guess that’s what happens when pipes are cut with chainsaws)… It just looks metallic because of the white-balance. They don’t manufacture any steel pipes…
Thank you for the feedback. 8<)
Great photos. Well done.
i love it.. beautiful photography, of what some might see as unattractive.. nicely done
Brilliant, especially that ‘I love this angle’ . D
I agree, who would have thought a pipe factory would be so interesting, but interesting it is. Thanks so much for pictures of something we are unlikely to see any other way. Cheers.
I also found these points of views in the pipe factories that I worked at, equally enjoyable and interesting. I worked in factories that made pipe from steel. We had problems with these points of views and we had equally interesting solutions to many problems through these points of views. For some of us, this was way to work, for some others this was way of life.
But seeing the post, the way the author has seen, showed that factory is also where “art” belongs as much as form of art too , not only as practice of engineering or technology or management alone.
Very nice photos!!! Hardly any one can imagine of this
Health and Safety hard a work protecting workers, one guy is actually smoking. I witnessed a guy welding the other day using just his hands to shield his eyes. Interesting topic with great photos. Congrats on being Freshly Pressed.
Yes, I thought the guy smoking was hilarious too!
Good job Rob!
Good stuff man, nice shots.
Loyal employee is breathtaking.
So is Plastic Shavings in Pipe.
My hobby is photography, hoping to make some sort of earning job from it.
I must ask, what kind of camera do you use sir?
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I never knew that something as mundane as pipe, can be so beautiful!
amazing pictures!!!
This is really neat. Love these photos. You’re right, who knew a pipe factory could be so interesting!
This is super interesting!!
This is awesome. I would have never seen this otherwise.
Whoa..These are some real great and interesting shots.
Congratulations on being Freshly Pressed!
wow, ace!! Love these pictures.
i love how photos (when done right) can capture the beauty in anything!
yay! pressoland.
Only you could make a pipe factory look beautiful. Nicely done!
I really like the Light at the End of the….pipe.
Great photos. You’ve really done a great job capturing the right perspective for each shot.
Great shots! I especially love “ready to be shipped”, “loyal employee” and “light at the end of the pipe”