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The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work (large edit)

650 images Created 28 Oct 2008

These 650 images (in file name order) originate from the book project 'The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work' (subtitled A Song for Occupations) by Alain de Botton. The gallery called One Hundred Images contains a much smaller edit than seen here and may help the viewer acquaint themselves with this body of work.

In his book, de Botton writes:
"We spend much of our lives at work - but surprisingly little gets written about what makes work both one of the most exciting and most painful of all our activities.

The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work is an exploration of the joys and perils of the modern workplace, evoking what other people get up to all day - and all night - to make the frenzied contemporary world function. With a philosophical eye and his characteristic combination of wit and wisdom, Alain de Botton leads us on a journey around a deliberately eclectic range of occupations, from rocket science to biscuit manufacturing, accountancy to art - in the name of exploring what makes our jobs either fulfilling or soul-destroying."

The book pictures are reproduced in black and white but all appear here in colour. They are a combined edit (from a total of 5,000 shot) and were released for sale through Photoshelter, Alamy and some also exclusive to CORBIS on 1st April 2009. Each image has its availability details in the restrictions field, if appropriate.

JPEGS for book review purposes are available on request and Lambda prints are on sale via bakerpictures.com.

Blog story about the photography:
http://wp.me/p3fbj-4j

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  • Sorted letters are grouped in a drawer at Royal Mail's giant warehouse at the DIRFT logistics park in Daventry, Northamptonshire England. Raised from its neighbours is an Air Mail letter addressed to someone called Rodrigues and with stamps if its unknown country. Each letter faces the same direction for ease of viewing in this enormous complex where some of the UK's 82 million items pass through. Royal Mail handles some 82 million posted items a day. They have a statutory duty to provide a delivery service to 27 million addresses in the UK for letters and for parcels weighing up to 20kg. Six days a week they deliver daily to all addresses in the UK and provides a collection service from 115,000 Post Boxes, 16,000 Post Offices, businesses and organizations throughout the UK and distributed through 72 mail centres and 100 distribution centres.
    DIRFT135-20-02-2007 .jpg
  • Postal workers enjoy humour at the Royal Mail's DIRFT logistics park in Daventry, Northamptonshire England.
    DIRFT151-20-02-2007 .jpg
  • Cross-docking sign at goods-in for departing lorries taking nationwide Royal Mail post from DIRFT logistics park in Daventry
    DIRFT156-20-02-2007 .jpg
  • Forklift lane stencilled on the floor of Royal Mail's DIRFT logistics park in Daventry, Northamptonshire England.
    DIRFT166-20-02-2007 .jpg
  • Red clock hangs from warehouse roof of cross-docking area of of Royal Mail's DIRFT logistics park in Daventry
    DIRFT168-20-02-2007 .jpg
  • An aerial view overlooking the processing depot of Royal Mail's DIRFT logistics park in Daventry, Northamptonshire England. Commercial postage of catalogues, junk mail and brochures pass through this enormous complex where some of the UK's 82 million items pass through. Royal Mail handles some 82 million posted items a day. They have a statutory duty to provide a delivery service to 27 million addresses in the UK for letters and for parcels weighing up to 20kg. Six days a week they deliver daily to all addresses in the UK and provides a collection service from 115,000 Post Boxes, 16,000 Post Offices, businesses and organizations throughout the UK and distributed through 72 mail centres and 100 distribution centres such as DIRFT.
    DIRFT176-20-02-2007 .jpg
  • An aerial view overlooking Processing at the DIRFT logistics park in Daventry, Northamptonshire England. Commercial postage of catalogues, junk mail and brochures pass through this enormous complex where some of the UK's 82 million items pass through. Royal Mail handles some 82 million posted items a day. They have a statutory duty to provide a delivery service to 27 million addresses in the UK for letters and for parcels weighing up to 20kg. Six days a week they deliver daily to all addresses in the UK and provides a collection service from 115,000 Post Boxes, 16,000 Post Offices, businesses and organizations throughout the UK and distributed through 72 mail centres and 100 distribution centres.
    DIRFT191-20-02-2007 .jpg
  • Postal workers rest in the canteen during a night shift at Royal Mail's DIRFT logistics park in Daventry, Northamptonshire England.
    DIRFT194-20-02-2007 .jpg
  • Postal workers play table football in the canteen during a night shift at Royal Mail's DIRFT logistics park in Daventry
    DIRFT200-20-02-2007 .jpg
  • Speeding postal worker in the processing depot of Royal Mail's DIRFT logistics park in Daventry, Northamptonshire England.
    DIRFT208-20-02-2007 .jpg
  • Seen through its windscreen, a car travels at speed along the M1 motorway behind an Eddie Stobart lorry.
    DIRFT219-20-02-2007 .jpg
  • Patriotic pensioner Ivor Dowling attaches the Welsh flag beneath the Union Jack to fly in his back Somerset garden.
    electricity002-27-12-2007 .jpg
  • Gnomes and garden figures displayed below an electricity pylon in a back Somerset garden.
    electricity010-27-12-2007 .jpg
  • A Union Jack flag flies beneath the English Cross of St. George on a flag pole beneath an electricity pylon in a Somerset garden.
    electricity020-27-12-2007 .jpg
  • A Union Jack flag flies beneath the English Cross of St. George on a flag pole beneath an electricity pylon in a Somerset garden.
    electricity023-27-12-2007 .jpg
  • A flock of grazing sheep eat grass in a field beneath an electricity pylon in a North Somerset field.
    electricity026-27-12-2007 .jpg
  • Pensioner Barbara Dowling sips tea views an electricity pylon from the warm kitchen of her North Somerset home.
    electricity030-27-12-2007 .jpg
  • An electricity pylon is seen through a bedroom window where a pillow
    electricity036-27-12-2007 .jpg
  • An electricity pylon stands astride a car park at a local Rugby club on land near Wrington, North Somerset England.
    electricity039-27-12-2007 .jpg
  • An electricity pylon stands against an overcast winter sky on rural land near Wrington, North Somerset England.
    electricity042-27-12-2007 .jpg
  • The outline of electricity cables stretch across a gloomy winter sky in woodland near Wrington, North Somerset England. Diagonally, the cables travel across the picture but they are part of a line of L6 pylons that have already crossed many miles of South-West England's countryside, carrying 40,000 Volts along this network of aluminium cables to power some of Bristol's high supply demands. In the foreground we see the bare boughs and branches of trees creating a Sci-Fi scene of ugly 21st technology versus the beauty of nature. Insatiable appetites for raw power and energy means electricity is now an expensive comodity after climbing oil prices doubled electricity utility bills for some domestic users.
    electricity050-27-12-2007 .jpg
  • The dark outline of an electricity pylon stands over a gloomy winter sky in woodland near Wrington, North Somerset England.
    electricity055-27-12-2007 .jpg
  • An electricity pylon stands amongst bare trees on a gloomy winter day in woodland near Wrington, North Somerset England.
    electricity057-28-12-2007 .jpg
  • A sign showing instant death warns anyone climbing this electricity pylon standing in woodland near Wrington, North Somerset England.
    electricity059-28-12-2007 .jpg
  • A cyclist pushes his bike across a road junction near a crushed traffic bollard in London's Tottenham Court Road.
    electricity084-12-01-2008 .jpg
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