An American Mill - Recent Photographs

[SaveKodak]

Hi all,
recently I toured one of the last remaining textile mills in operation in central MA. My girlfriend has a family connection that owns the place. When she told me about it I was picturing this modern textile plant so I thought, oh might be kinda neat. With that in mind I only bothered to bring my Leica M4 and 35mm Biogon, and some random 'fridge rolls'. In this case I had half a roll of Portra 400 in my Leica and 3 rolls of Fuji Superia 400. Man was I wrong! Turns out the site and the base of the building dates back to the 1750s, and the machinery to the 1950s. They manufacture all the internal textiles for Major League Baseball, among many other clients. They operate 24/7 and are at full capacity as far as clients go. Anyway, I made a small web gallery of my images. If I had more time and some forsight I would have brought my Rolleiflex!

https://marksperry.myportfolio.com/an-american-mill

For photo-geeks like me, again everything was M4, 35mm Biogon F2, mostly at 2.0 due to light. Exteriors at F8. Portra 400 and Superia 400. I used my Pacific Image Primefilm XA to scan the full rolls which worked swimmingly as usual. Then I made light edits in LR.

 

[brennanphotoguy]

Good stuff. Make sure and take your Rollei from now on.

 

[Bille]

Well done. The PI scanner seems to do a nice job as well.

 

[SaveKodak]

Well done. The PI scanner seems to do a nice job as well.

Thanks! That scanner has been fantastic for me.

 

[helen.HH]

Thanks for the Glimpse... Well Done !

 

[michaelwj]

My Dad was a textiles man, and when I started in the family business we often would go to the mills (we designed and sold textiles, but didn't manufacture). It always amazed me that even the newest mills looked 100 years old. The equipment is basically the same and quickly gets covered in that fluff and oil so it just blends in. And that smell. So unique and indescribable.
Nice shots, they really take me back. I agree that you should definitely return as often as you can, they are treasure troves. I regret I never took many photos when I had the chance.

 

[SaveKodak]

I hope to!

While I was there they owner showed me photographs from maybe 10 years ago from a photographer who had gone in and shot the space while they were making yarn from day-glow colors. He has a large format wide shot of the machinery with this bright purple thread going through it. It really stands out with the whole place being so drab otherwise. I'd love to go explore that side of it.

 

[grouchos_tash]

Love these (and the website) Mark 🙂

 

[charjohncarter]

Nice subject and great images. When I was in northern England I went to a spool factory. Doesn't sound very interesting; but I got some great shots, and like you I was dreaming of having my Rollei with me.