Supporting British Industry & Craftsmanship
Steve Whitton's foundry was surrounded by workshops, in a part of the former Woolwich Dockyard that used to be a hive of industrial activity, with the famous Stone Foundries once a stone's throw away. When Steve left school at the age of fifteen with no qualifications, his father suggested that he work in a foundry. He took to it straight away and he set up on his own in 1987. Steve fabricates pieces as varied as a vast hand sculpture for Ringo Starr, portcullis gates and railway switches - at one point he was making twenty brass switches a week for Network Rail. Unfortunately nobody wants a foundry on their road and Woolwich Council have redeveloped this area for new housing, forcing the closure of Whittons Castings.
"I love visiting foundries. I compare them to bakeries - with the sieving of the sand and precision required to make the perfect moulds and casts. There's no room for error when it comes to handling the molten metal and everything happens at lightening speed. Foundries are tricky places to photograph - especially Whittons, with the only available light coming from the opening at the front. Trying to capture the fierce heat of the orange iron against a black backdrop is challenging. I was dancing around Steve and Nathan, trying to keep out of their way as they work their way through the moulds, pouring from the crucible. It's all over in a minute and you just hope you've caught the drama of it all." Carmel King photographed Whittons Castings in June 2021, just before its closure, for Made in London.
