{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O239170"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O239170/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2012FE6351/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2012FE6351/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2012FE6351","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London/Maurice Bloomfield","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O239170/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O239170","accessionNumber":"E.3747-2007","objectType":"Photograph","titles":[{"title":"Cooling tower under construction","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"Maurice Broomfield (1916-2010) worked to photograph the changing face of British manufacturing industries during the 1950s and 1960s.  His photographs are recognized for their uniquely modern design elements, humanist strain, and their contribution to the documentation of the rebirth of British industry in the post war era.","physicalDescription":"A silver gelatin print of a factory worker looking down a cooling tower at three figures standing below.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Broomfield, Maurice","id":"A25870"},"association":{"text":"photographer","id":"x43821"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Silver gelatin print","categories":[{"text":"Photographs","id":"THES48910"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":["2012FE6351"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"LVLF","id":"THES49656"},"free":"","case":"DR","shelf":"13","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"photograph","id":"AAT46300"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"No","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Cumbria","id":"x29459"},"association":{"text":"photographed","id":"x30151"},"note":"Calder Hall Nuclear Power Station, Cumbria"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1954","earliest":"1954-01-01","latest":"1954-12-31"},"association":{"text":"photographed","id":"x30151"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by the artist","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"611","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"504","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"paper","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Signed by Maurice Broomfield, dated 1954. 5/25","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Photograph by Maurice Broomfield, 'Cooling Tower Under Construction', 1954, gelatin silver print, printed 1995","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"Maurice Broomfield, published by Foto8, 2009","free":"<u>Plate 12. Cooling Tower Under Construction</u>\r\n\"The inside of a cooling tower under construction is an awesome sight. Positioning myself, straddling across two planks, was difficult. Cooling towers are not the most desirable things to fall into. This picture was exhibited in Rotterdam and later featured on Dutch television, accompanied with sound effects. I was more scared watching it than photographing it.\"\r\nCalder Hall Nuclear Power Station, Cumbria (the site now known as Sellafield) during construction by Taylor Woodrow Construction Company, 1954"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"cooling towers","id":"AAT52180"},{"text":"factory","id":"AAT6232"},{"text":"factory workers","id":"x36141"},{"text":"workplace","id":"AAT259547"}],"contentConcepts":[{"text":"industrial location","id":"AAT55466"},{"text":"workplace","id":"AAT259547"}],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"<b>Maurice Broomfield: Industrial Sublime, Gallery 100 (2021-2022)</b>\n\nCooling Tower Under Construction\r\nCalder Hall Nuclear Power Station, Cumbria\r\n1954\n\r\nCalder Hall (later known as Sellafield) was the world’s first industrial-scale nuclear power station. Broomfield chose a dramatic perspective to photograph inside one of the four massive cooling towers, daringly positioning himself straddling two planks nearly 90 metres (300 feet) in the air. In bird’s-eye view, the tower’s extraordinary height is dramatized by the people visible on different levels of the building.\n\r\nGelatin silver print, printed 1995\r\nGiven by the artist\r\nMuseum no. E.3747-2007","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null}},{"text":"Broomfield made his name as the premier photographer of post-war British industry.  From the 1950s until the 70s he was regularly commissioned by companies such as English Electric, Ford, Shell and Philips.\n\nBroomfield sought to elevate the figure of the worker.  Through careful composition and strong lighting his photographs create a sense of the drama and atmosphere of labour.  As manufacturing has turned to cheaper markets overseas, these photographs serve as a reminder of an important moment in Britain's industrial history.","date":{"text":"20/03/2012","earliest":"2012-03-20","latest":"2012-03-20"}}],"partNumbers":["E.3747-2007"],"accessionNumberNum":"3747","accessionNumberPrefix":"E","accessionYear":2007,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"Negative number","id":"THES50273"},"number":"M851-9"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-03-17","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-08","availableToBook":false}}