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  • Seen from a high viewpoint, we overlook loading of roll cages at the Sainsbury's 700,000 sq ft (57,500sq m) supermarket warehouse and distribution depot at Waltham Point London England. This is the largest of 10 distribution centres using an automated ordering system for receiving food direct from suppliers by truck through 170 dock doors. Long-distance vehicles depart every two minutes, 24 hours a day, 364 days a year to 80 UK stores and handling 2.5m supermarket cases a week. The temperature is just above freezing point in a series of chill, ambient and frozen chambers. Real-time ordering means that stores can obtain requested stock within hours. Food orders are conveyed (at 2 meters a second) with sorter systems that group products together, ordering them to favour the layout of specific stores, optimising how the shelves are stacked....
    sainsburys_depot054-09-05-2007.jpg
  • Arriving for work beneath atrium of an auditing company's London headquarters.<br />
<br />
A limited edition (5 of 6) Lambda digital framed print created for the Werk Nu (Work Now) exhibition at the Z33 Gallery in Hasselt, Belgium and including specially selected text by Alain de Botton from his 'The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work' book (Hamish Hamilton, 2009). <br />
<br />
The photograph is the copyright Richard Baker. The text is the copyright Alain de Botton.<br />
<br />
For print sales enquiries email: richard(at)bakerpictures.com
    Z33_exhibition11-09-08-2007.jpg
  • A long-distance lorry is parked at the Sainsbury's 700,000 sq ft (57,500sq m) supermarket warehouse and distribution depot at Waltham Point London England. With round wheels echoing the circles of oranges, long-distance vehicles depart every two minutes, 24 hours a day, 364 days a year to 80 UK stores and handling 2.5m supermarket cases a week. Transporting refrigerated perishable foodstuffs, these lorries are ever-present on the nation's motorways and A roads, plying back and forth to re-supply the supermarkets. Food orders are conveyed with sorter systems that group products together, ordering them to favour the layout of specific stores, optimising how the shelves are stacked..
    sainsburys_depot123-09-05-2007.jpg
  • Using the Ball Mat Flooring System, below the flooring of economy class, a cargo handler manhandles a container of air freight into position in the hold of a Sri Lankan Airlines Airbus A340 that is about to depart from Male, the capital of the Republic of the Maldives  to Colombo. Inside the aluminium box is fresh tuna fish, freshly caught in the Indian Ocean and bound for the supermarkets of the EU and in particular, the UK whose insatiable appetite for fresh, perishable and sustainable foodstuffs make this fast and efficient form of transport important to speedy delivery. Every square inch is accounted for but as well as passengers' baggage, the cramped spaces beneath this modern airliner store loaded revenue-rich cargo though specially-pressurised and heated compartments accommodate live animals.
    maldives436-15-11-2007.jpg
  • One a hot November night, a Sri Lankan Airlines A340-300 series Airbus - registration number 4R-ADE - is bathed in high-intensity floodlights on the apron at Malé international airport in the Republic of the Maldives. Surrounded by passenger steps, servicing vehicles for catering and the loading of baggage and air freight in the below-floor holds, the aircraft is readied for its next flight to Colombo, another journey for this aircraft as it travels across the world's air routes.
    maldives434-15-11-2007.jpg
  • An HGV driver is ready to leave Sainsbury's 700,000 sq ft (57,500sq m) supermarket distribution depot at Waltham Poiint
    sainsburys_depot215-09-05-2007.jpg
  • As winter fog lifts, the waters of the River Thames clear to reveal an eerie landscape of industrial river life and architecture at Gravesend, Kent England. It is late-morning and in the hazy distance on the northern river bank, steam clouds near the double twin chimneys of npower's 1400MW coal fired Tilbury power station (powering 1.4 million homes using ?biomass? fuels and low-sulphur coal) which rise above the passing ghostly bulk of a cargo freighter on its last miles of its voyage from open sea into the Thames Estuary and on to Tilbury Docks. Historically, the Thames has long been a route for shipping that kept the capital supplied and although the docks have seen huge decreases in traffic and volume since the second world war, Tilbury remains a busy hub for containerized vessels arrivng from all over the world.
    river_business320-11-02-2008 .jpg
  • Following UK commercial driving law, a lorry driver relaxes by reading in a window at the M40 motorway services in Warwickshire, England. Leaning back while engrossed in his book, the man is sitting in sunlight on this summer's day. Outside is a poster advertising the premium ice cream brand, Magnum. A girl is shown also lounging about enjoying a Magnum on a beautiful sun-kissed beach, with the sun reflecting on a calm sea. We see Magnum's web site and their products of Classic and White chocolate snacks in their wrappers. The man is oblivious to the nature of the ad but it lends a sense of paradise versus reality, between the fantasy of youth, natural beauty and the reality of an older working man on the road.
    truck_stop4-30-07-2007.jpg
  • Striding urgently are a group of rail commuters emerging from London Bridge main line station in central London along a station concourse. Marching in step, the strangers are on their way to work in the City of London or Southwark on the south bank of the Thames. They are all passing-by a mobile smoothie drink kiosk that has the slogan "Guaranteed to keep you going till lunch." London Bridge station is one of 18 railway stations managed by Network Rail and is a major transport terminus and interchange for central London and serves over 42 million people a year. The tube station serves the Jubilee Line and the Bank branch of the Northern Line.
    london_bridge_commuters051-12-09-200...jpg
  • An Evening Standard newspaper headline announces the fury of London commuters' at a 3-day underground tube strike in September 2007. This is Victoria mainline station during a summer heatwave. It's a transport hub for tube lines, buses and overground train routes and we also see a stressed and exasperated-looking commuter walking past this kiosk with a Starbucks coffee container in hand, needing to get into work rather than take public transport. As a result of the industrial action, the busses are full so the quickest way of reaching one's destination is to walk.
    tube_strike_commuters02-04-09-2007.jpg
  • Commuters to-and-fro in the heat of a city summer during a 3-day underground tube strike in September 2007. This is Victoria mainline station during a summer heatwave. It's a transport hub for tube lines, buses and overground train routes and we see masses of pedestrians and buses reflected in the glass of a bush shelter window. As a result of the industrial action, the buses are full so the quickest way of reaching one's destination is to walk. An official points out directions, someone shields his eyes from the sun, a lady walks with her hands in pockets, the 239 bus to Victoria approaches and sightseeing tours sign advertises tickets. People are seen in differing scales and sizes.
    tube_strike_commuters10-04-09-2007.jpg
  • Commuters walk about in all directions in the heat of summer in the city during a 3-day underground tube strike in September 2007. As a result of the industrial action, the buses are full so the quickest way of reaching one's destination is to walk. People near Victoria Station, a transport hub for tube lines, buses and overground train routes so we see businessmen in dark suits during the heatwave, women striding along towards their transport home and we look up at them from a low-angle in the street. One man seems to pause from indecision while others are more confident about their fate and direction in life.
    tube_strike_commuters18-04-09-2007.jpg
  • Foodstuffs progress through real-time ordering and delivery technology at Sainsbury's 700,000 sq ft distribution depot
    sainsburys_depot138-09-05-2007.jpg
  • Foodstuffs progress through real-time ordering and delivery technology at Sainsbury's 700,000 sq ft distribution depot
    sainsburys_depot100-09-05-2007.jpg
  • Foodstuffs progress through real-time ordering and delivery technology at Sainsbury's 700,000 sq ft distribution depot
    sainsburys_depot086-09-05-2007.jpg
  • Salmon progresses through real-time ordering and delivery technology at Sainsbury's 700,000 sq ft distribution depot
    sainsburys_depot148-09-05-2007.jpg
  • Foodstuffs progress through real-time ordering and delivery technology at Sainsbury's 700,000 sq ft distribution depot
    sainsburys_depot107-09-05-2007.jpg
  • Foodstuffs progress through real-time ordering and delivery technology at Sainsbury's 700,000 sq ft distribution depot
    sainsburys_depot067-09-05-2007.jpg
  • Wearing a high-vis tabard and peaked cap, a young driver sits at the wheel of his HGV lorry on the A3 trunk road in London
    new_england26-27-11-2007.jpg
  • Wearing a high-vis tabard and peaked cap, a young driver sits at the wheel of his HGV lorry on the A3 trunk road in London
    new_england24-27-11-2007.jpg
  • Homeward through atrium of an auditing company's 385,000 square foot Norman Foster-designed London headquarters
    ernst+young457-09-08-2007.jpg
  • Using the Ball Mat Flooring System, below economy class flooring, a cargo handler manhandles a container of freight in the hold of a Sri Lankan Airlines Airbus A340
    maldives441-15-11-2007.jpg
  • One the apron of Male International Airport, Maldives, a Sri Lankan Airlines A340-300 series Airbus prepares for departure
    maldives431-15-11-2007.jpg
  • A clerk completes paperwork from a PC in the freight forwarding office of male International Airport, Maldives.
    maldives425-15-11-2007.jpg
  • A cargo handler operates a loader to place freight containers into the hold of a Sri Lankan Airlines Airbus A340 at Male.
    maldives437-15-11-2007.jpg
  • On the apron of Malé International Airport, Maldives, a Sri Lankan Airlines A340-300 series Airbus prepares for departure
    maldives432-15-11-2007.jpg
  • Shipping spotters train binoculars on a Hapag-Lloyd container cargo ship navigating downstream on the River Thames.
    river_business351-11-02-2008 .jpg
  • The Hamburg-registered Mol Caledon ship passes the giant dredging machinery at npower's Tilbury power station on the  River Thames northern shore, Essex England. Having just departed from Tilbury Docks with the evening sun glinting off the stern's reflective surfaces, stacks of tall containers are heaped high but evenly spread for stability along the massive vessel. They head out towards open sea, navigating through deeper water channels that naturally get shallower as silt chokes the waterways. Historically, the Thames has long been a route for shipping that kept the capital supplied and although the docks have seen huge decreases in traffic and volume since the second world war, Tilbury remains a busy hub for containerized vessels arrivng from all over the world.
    thames_ships172-26-06-2007.jpg
  • Monitoring logistics by PC at Sainsbury's 700,000 sq ft distribution warehouse depot at Waltham Point, London
    sainsburys_depot182-09-05-2007.jpg
  • Yellow painted lanes on the floor of Sainsbury's 700,000 sq ft (57,500sq m) supermarket distribution depot at Waltham Point
    sainsburys_depot113-09-05-2007.jpg
  • The cargo ship "CMA CGM Turkey" eases past two elderly shipping spotters who log its details on the River Thames
    river_business375-12-02-2008 .jpg
  • A  Hapag-Lloyd container cargo ship navigates past two fishermen on the southern shores of the River Thames at Gravesend, Kent England. Pausing from their fishing, the two men lean over the sea defence wall to watch the traffic to-and-fro as one giant vessel after another departs from Tilbury Docks towards open sea. The Thames has historically long been a route for shipping that kept the capital supplied and although the docks have seen huge decreases in traffic and volume since the second world war, Tilbury remains a busy hub for containerized vessels arrivng from all over the world. There are 133 Hapag-Lloyd containerships with a capacity of around 499.000 TEU (Twenty foot containers), Container capacity exceeds 1,1 million (TEU) containers.
    river_business353-11-02-2008 .jpg
  • The Hamburg-registered Mol Caledon ship passes the giant dredging machinery at npower's Tilbury power station on the  River Thames northern shore, Essex England. Having just departed from Tilbury Docks with the evening sun glinting off the stern's reflective surfaces, stacks of tall containers are heaped high but evenly spread for stability along the massive vessel. They head out towards open sea, navigating through deeper water channels that naturally get shallower as silt chokes the waterways. Historically, the Thames has long been a route for shipping that kept the capital supplied and although the docks have seen huge decreases in traffic and volume since the second world war, Tilbury remains a busy hub for containerized vessels arrivng from all over the world.
    thames_ships172-26-06-2007.jpg
  • The cargo ship "CMA CGM Turkey" eases past two elderly shipping spotters who log its details on the River Thames
    river_business373-12-02-2008 .jpg
  • An HGV lorry driver returns to his lorry after a break at the M40 motorway services in Warwickshire, England.
    truck_stop02-30-07-2007.jpg
  • Rush hour train commuters blur through London Bridge mainline Station, walking en-route to exit and security barriers
    ernst+young051-09-08-2007.jpg
  • A commuter strides past the open doors of a commuter train awaiting departure from a platform at Victoria station
    tube_strike_commuters20-04-09-2007.jpg
  • Through a bus shelter window, commuters queue for buses during a 3-day tube strike and a city heatwave
    tube_strike_commuters08-04-09-2007.jpg
  • Giant Hamburg-registered cargo container ship on the River Thames eases downstream past Gravesend and on towards open sea
    thames_ships162-26-06-2007.jpg
  • An HGV driver awaits his lorry to be loaded at Sainsbury's 700,000 sq ft (57,500sq m) supermarket distribution depot
    sainsburys_depot129-09-05-2007.jpg
  • An HGV driver awaits his lorry to be loaded at Sainsbury's 700,000 sq ft (57,500sq m) supermarket distribution depot
    sainsburys_depot124-09-05-2007.jpg
  • A lorry reversed in a loading bay at Sainsbury's 700,000 sq ft (57,500sq m) supermarket distribution depot at Waltham Point
    sainsburys_depot045-09-05-2007.jpg
  • A giant cargo container ship on a wide section of the River Thames eases upstream towards Tilbury Docks.
    river_business360-11-02-2008 .jpg
  • Models scrutinized by media at British couture designer Margaret Howell's Autumn fashion show in her design studio
    margaret_howell_show141-17-09-2007.jpg
  • Commuter chaos at Victoria during tube Strike of September 07.
    ernst+young054-09-08-2007.jpg
  • Rush hour train commuters blur through London Bridge mainline Station, walking en-route to exit and security barriers
    ernst+young042-09-08-2007.jpg
  • Rush hour train commuters blur through London Bridge mainline Station, walking en-route to exit and security barriers
    ernst+young049-09-08-2007.jpg
  • A Royal Mail lorry speeds up the darkening M1 motorway loaded with parcels and letters.
    DIRFT019-20-02-2007 .jpg
  • Seen through its windscreen, a car travels at speed along the M1 motorway behind an Eddie Stobart lorry.
    DIRFT219-20-02-2007 .jpg
  • The day after its catastrophic blaze, firefighters continue to assess fire damage from their ladders, to the Queen's official residence at Windsor Castle, on 20th November 1992, in London, England. The most northerly corner of this old building that caught fire in a private chapel on the first floor of the north-east wing. Spreading quickly, damaging St George's Hall, which is often used for banquets. In all, one hundred rooms were damaged in the fire and intense public debate was sparked about whether the taxpayer should foot the repair bill, as the castle is owned by the British Government and not the Royal Family. But the Queen agreed to meet 70% of the costs, and opened Buckingham Palace to the public to generate extra funds. The £40m restoration took five years. Windsor is the largest inhabited castle in the world and partly dates to the time of the Norman King William the Conquerer.
    windsor_fire-20-11-1992.jpg
  • Office lights illuminate the 800 foot tower at 1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf in London Docklands, one of the tallest buildings in Europe.  Designed by the Argentine architect César Pelli, construction was completed in 1991. Identifiable from a great distance as an obelisk-shaped tower with its aircraft warning light flashing on top, this building is a monument to 1980s-style capitalism...From the 'Windows' series. ..Since Microsoft brought about the name Windows to brand the PC computing user interface, I have taken it upon myself to collect and henceforth, add to - a group of pictures about the original window, long after the original word was hijacked by a man called Gates.  More will be added during 2007...Windows have been around for a long time - the Romans invaders even had a glass substance that sealed the chilly British air - and stench - from their sensitive Roman noses. ..Nowadays, I'm attracted to the labelling and messaging that becomes attached to the inside or outside of panes of glass, as if they are urban, public post-it notes for anything an individual wishes to share or advertise.  Sometimes the message can be a warning, a cry for help or just an accidental freak of mis-spelling that somehow creates a different meaning altogether to that intended. ..
    canary rba.jpg
  • The last person to leave the office is a conscientious lady employee of the biscuit and snack manufacturer United Biscuits at their UK headquarters at Hayes Park North near London England. Seen in a window surrounded bright ceiling lights, the female sits at her desk tying up loose ends before leaving for the day. As darkness falls outside, the red lights from tail lights streak across the picture and the green grass on a landscaped bank is lit by light posts. None of her work colleages have stayed on, preferring to depart to see their families at home on this winter night. Perhaps this career woman is single and an ambitious member of the team who can dedicate more time to her job..
    united_biscuits_294.jpg
  • The back of  famous greying-blonde head belonging to Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic is seen during SpaceShipTwo's replica model unveiling at the New York Wired NextFest at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Galactic. Under construction by Burt Rutan in Mojave, California and looking more like '2001 A Space Odyssey,' than future everyday holidays, SpaceShipTwo is a re-usable orbiting vehicle that will become an important tool for Man's leisure time in space when affordable commercial space tourism starting in 2009/10. Aboard the space vehicle will be 6 passengers, each paying $200,000 for the 40 minute flight to 360,000 feet (109.73km, or 68.18 miles) and to experience 6 minutes of weighlessness.
    baker_virgin15.jpg
  • Virgin boss, Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic directors Will Whitehorn and Stephen Attenborough, talk to the media during the unveiling of their SpaceShipTwo concept model's unveiling at the New York Wired NextFest at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.  Now under construction by Burt Rutan in Mojave, California and looking more like a Stanley Kubrick movie set from '2001 A Space Odyssey,' than the future for everyday holidays, SpaceShipTwo is a re-usable orbiting vehicle that will become an important tool for Man's leisure time in space when affordable commercial space tourism starts in around 2009.  .Aboard the re-usable space vehicle will be 6 passengers, each of whom will have paid $200,000 for the 40 minute flight to 360,000 feet (109.73km, or 68.18 miles) and to experience just 6 minutes of weighlessness..Launched in September 2004 by Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Galactic will invest up to $250 million to develop the world's first commercial space tourism business with the building, testing and flying of five space shipShipTwos and two mother ships.  It is expected that within the first full year of commercial operations Virgin Galactic will enable 500 people to fulfil their dreams of becoming astronauts; in the last 4 decades the world has seen fewer than 500 astronauts. Flights start around 2009..28/09/2006
    baker_virgin11.jpg
  • A computer-generated astronaut lies down on board a space flight on Virgin Galactic's  SpaceShipTwo's,  unveiled as a replica model during Wired NextFest at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York. Under construction by Burt Rutan in Mojave, California and looking more like '2001 A Space Odyssey,' than future everyday holidays, SpaceShipTwo is a re-usable orbiting vehicle that will become an important tool for Man's leisure time in space when affordable commercial space tourism starting in 2009/10. Aboard the space vehicle will be 6 passengers, each paying $200,000 for the 40 minute flight to 360,000 feet (109.73km, or 68.18 miles) and to experience 6 minutes of weighlessness. From these circular portholes, astronauts will see 1,000 miles having taken off from the new Spaceport America, New Mexico. .
    baker_virgin12.jpg
  • Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson sits in the replica model of the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo during its unveiling of at the New York Wired NextFest at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Under construction by Burt Rutan in Mojave, California and looking more like a Stanley Kubrick movie set from '2001 A Space Odyssey,' than the future for everyday holidays, SpaceShipTwo is a re-usable orbiting vehicle that will become an important tool for Man's leisure time in space when affordable commercial space tourism starts in around 2009. Aboard the re-usable space vehicle will be 6 passengers, each of whom paying $200,000 for the 40 minute flight to 360,000 feet (109.73km, or 68.18 miles) and to experience just 6 minutes of weighlessness. From these circular portholes, astronauts will see 1,000 miles having taken off from the new Spaceport America, New Mexico. ..
    baker_virgin10.jpg
  • A replica model of the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo during its unveiling Wired NextFest at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, NYC. Under construction by Burt Rutan in Mojave, California and looking more like a Stanley Kubrick movie set from '2001 A Space Odyssey,' than the future for everyday holidays, SpaceShipTwo is a re-usable orbiting vehicle that will become an important tool for Man's leisure time in space when affordable commercial space tourism starts in around 2009. Aboard the re-usable space vehicle will be 6 passengers, each of whom will have paid $200,000 for the 40 minute flight to 360,000 feet (109.73km, or 68.18 miles) and to experience just 6 minutes of weighlessness. From these circular portholes, astronauts will be able to see 1,000 miles having taken off from the new Spaceport America, New Mexico. ..
    baker_virgin09.jpg
  • Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson and former Apollo (11) astronaut Buzz Aldrin chat after Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo's unveiling at the New York Wired NextFest at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Under construction by Burt Rutan in Mojave, California and looking more like '2001 A Space Odyssey,' than future everyday holidays, SpaceShipTwo is a re-usable orbiting vehicle that will become an important tool for Man's leisure time in space when affordable commercial space tourism starting in 2009/10. Aboard the space vehicle will be 6 passengers, each paying $200,000 for the 40 minute flight to 360,000 feet (109.73km, or 68.18 miles) and to experience 6 minutes of weighlessness.
    baker_virgin14.jpg
  • A woman street beggar prostrates herself on a pavement, ignored by Italian shoppers and pedestrians in Florence. As shoppers and tourists walk past in a hurry, pulling suitcases or carrying shopping, the people walk around the kneeling body whose stick lies on the ground with a paper cup to collect any spare change offered. There seems to be a mixture of indifference, pity and shame for what has become the modern face of Italian society in this once-grand medieval city. The city lies on the River Arno and is known for its history and its importance in the Middle Ages and in the Renaissance, especially for its art and architecture. A centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time, Florence has been called the Athens of the Middle Ages.
    florence_italy140-23-10-2010.jpg
  • A street beggar has been noticed by a young Italian boy who points out the poor kneeling body to his parent. A stick lies on the ground with a paper cup to collect any spare change offered and a cash customer stands entering his pin number into the automated bank dispenser, his back to the underclass of society. This has become normal for what has become the modern face of Italian society in this once-grand medieval city. The city lies on the River Arno and is known for its history and its importance in the Middle Ages and in the Renaissance, especially for its art and architecture. A centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time, Florence has been called the Athens of the Middle Ages.
    florence_italy171-24-10-2010.jpg
  • A Racing Post vendor looks over to a young woman wearing a wide-brimmed hat on Ladies' Day during Royal Ascot, the annual event on the English sporting and social calendar, on 18th June 1992, in London, England. Royal Ascot is held every June and is one of the main dates on the sporting calendar and English social season. Over 300,000 people make the annual visit to Berkshire during Royal Ascot week, making this Europe’s best-attended race meeting. There are sixteen group races on offer, with at least one Group One event on each of the five days. The Gold Cup is on Ladies' Day on the Thursday. There is over £3 million of prize money on offer.
    ascot_women2-18-06-1992.jpg
  • Six months after the fall of the Berlin Wall, an elderly lady is handed her change after buying some cauliflowers at a market stall, on 1st June 1990, in Leipzig, eastern Germany (former DDR).
    DDR_market_stall-01-06-1990.jpg
  • Four associates celebrate a successful day's business by treating themselves to a lunchtime bottle of white wine amid the scenes of prosperity and wealth of early 90s Britain. At their feet in the bay window are the fruits of a buoyant economy - Magnums of and jeroboams of Champagne to help revel in the success of the era. This is the City of London, the heart of the capital's financial district where money is earned in great quantities and commodities traded in their millions. The commissions are huge and lunchtimes are extravagant.
    city_lunchtime02-20-05-1993.jpg
  • As a young office worker sleeps incongruously on a marble pavement, a street sweeper nearby brushes away litter with a small dustpan. The manual labourer wears blue overalls, yellow gloves and keys in his back pocket while the man in a wastecoat and smart trousers and polished slip-on shoes appears to be fast asleep, his fingers across his chest. This scene suggests the social divisions of the working man: Of the young, educated post-war generation whose opportunities have afforded them a faster lifestyle, far removed from that of the physically-demanding job of a man whose life has been spent cleaning and sweeping. English social differences is clearly represented here as the harshness of the manual labourer versus a lazy youth of today, seen in the middle of the modern city.
    city_resting03-16-1997.jpg
  • In the shadow of 1 Canada Square, the iconic Canary Wharf tower in London's Docklands stands as an icon for Thatcherite Britain when the good times, prosperity and economic upturns seemed unshakeable. Four work colleagues stand under a hot lunchtime sun during a summer heatwave. In their shirtsleeves the men each hold pints of refreshing lager, all having removed their dark jackets to enjoy the company of a flirtatious female who appears to be flirting with an older male companion. The sky is blue and the five are care-free to any future economic uncertainty.
    canary_wharf_drinkers07-18-1991.jpg
  • Office worker's cluttered desk with trophy, shield and company statement at an auditing company's London headquarters.<br />
<br />
A limited edition (4 of 6) Lambda digital framed print created for the Werk Nu (Work Now) exhibition at the Z33 Gallery in Hasselt, Belgium and including specially selected text by Alain de Botton from his 'The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work' book (Hamish Hamilton, 2009). <br />
<br />
The photograph is the copyright Richard Baker. The text is the copyright Alain de Botton.<br />
<br />
For print sales enquiries email: richard(at)bakerpictures.com
    Z33_exhibition01-09-08-2007.jpg
  • Beneath the Atlantes figure by the sculptor H.A. Pegram (1896) at the entrance of Drapers' Hall livery company in Throgmorton Street, a gatekeeper stoops to pick up dropped keys outside Drapers Hall in Throgmorton Street, in the City of London, the capital's financial district aka the Square Mile, on 15th May 2018, in London, UK. The Drapers’ Company is a Livery Company in the City of London whose roots go back to the 13th century, when as its name indicates, it was involved in the drapery trade. While it is no longer involved in the trade, the Company has evolved acquiring a new relevance. Its main role today is to be the trustee of the charitable trusts that have been left in its care over the centuries. The Company also manages a thriving hospitality business. The first Drapers’ Hall was built in the 15th century in St Swithin’s Lane.  It bought a Hall on the present site in Throgmorton Street in 1543 from King Henry VIII for £1,200 (about £350,000 in today’s money). The Hall that the Company purchased from King Henry VIII in 1543 had been the private residence of Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex until his execution in 1540, when it was confiscated by the Crown.
    drapers_hall-02-15-05-2018.jpg
  • The Atlantes figure by the sculptor H.A. Pegram (1896) at the entrance of Drapers' Hall livery company in Throgmorton Street in the City of London, the capital's financial district aka the Square Mile, on 15th May 2018, in London, UK. The Drapers’ Company is a Livery Company in the City of London whose roots go back to the 13th century, when as its name indicates, it was involved in the drapery trade. While it is no longer involved in the trade, the Company has evolved acquiring a new relevance. Its main role today is to be the trustee of the charitable trusts that have been left in its care over the centuries. The Company also manages a thriving hospitality business. The first Drapers’ Hall was built in the 15th century in St Swithin’s Lane.  It bought a Hall on the present site in Throgmorton Street in 1543 from King Henry VIII for £1,200 (about £350,000 in today’s money). The Hall that the Company purchased from King Henry VIII in 1543 had been the private residence of Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex until his execution in 1540, when it was confiscated by the Crown.
    drapers_hall-01-15-05-2018.jpg
  • A businessman walks past an Atlantes figure by the sculptor H.A. Pegram (1896) at the entrance of Drapers' Hall livery company in Throgmorton Street, on 17th Juy 2017, in the City of London, England. The Drapers’ Company is a Livery Company in the City of London whose roots go back to the 13th century, when as its name indicates, it was involved in the drapery trade. While it is no longer involved in the trade, the Company has evolved acquiring a new relevance. Its main role today is to be the trustee of the charitable trusts that have been left in its care over the centuries. The Company also manages a thriving hospitality business. The first Drapers’ Hall was built in the 15th century in St Swithin’s Lane.  It bought a Hall on the present site in Throgmorton Street in 1543 from King Henry VIII for £1,200 (about £350,000 in today’s money). The Hall that the Company purchased from King Henry VIII in 1543 had been the private residence of Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex until his execution in 1540, when it was confiscated by the Crown.
    city_people-14-17-07-2017.jpg
  • A businessman walks past an Atlantes figure by the sculptor H.A. Pegram (1896) at the entrance of Drapers' Hall livery company in Throgmorton Street, on 17th Juy 2017, in the City of London, England. The Drapers’ Company is a Livery Company in the City of London whose roots go back to the 13th century, when as its name indicates, it was involved in the drapery trade. While it is no longer involved in the trade, the Company has evolved acquiring a new relevance. Its main role today is to be the trustee of the charitable trusts that have been left in its care over the centuries. The Company also manages a thriving hospitality business. The first Drapers’ Hall was built in the 15th century in St Swithin’s Lane.  It bought a Hall on the present site in Throgmorton Street in 1543 from King Henry VIII for £1,200 (about £350,000 in today’s money). The Hall that the Company purchased from King Henry VIII in 1543 had been the private residence of Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex until his execution in 1540, when it was confiscated by the Crown.
    city_people-12-17-07-2017.jpg
  • Two young men dressed in office suits casually stuff their lunches during a hot lunchtime break in the Broadgate Estate in the City of London. Both with legs across knees, the lads in their 20s sit on a bench beneath a tree alongside the statue of a traditional gardener, slightly bent and equipped with hoe and wearing a wastecoat, hobnailed boots and flat cap, an iconic salt-of-the-earth workman. This scene suggests the social divisions of the working man: Of the young, educated post-war generation whose opportunities have afforded them a faster lifestyle, far removed from that of the physically-exhausted man whose life has been spent working the honest land.  The English social divide is clearly represented here as the harshness of the manual labourer versus the youth of today, seen in the middle of the modern city.
    city_resting01-16-1993.jpg
  • The entrance gates of Drapers' Hall livery company in Throgmorton Street, on 17th Juy 2017, in the City of London, England. The Drapers’ Company is a Livery Company in the City of London whose roots go back to the 13th century, when as its name indicates, it was involved in the drapery trade. While it is no longer involved in the trade, the Company has evolved acquiring a new relevance. Its main role today is to be the trustee of the charitable trusts that have been left in its care over the centuries. The Company also manages a thriving hospitality business. The first Drapers’ Hall was built in the 15th century in St Swithin’s Lane.  It bought a Hall on the present site in Throgmorton Street in 1543 from King Henry VIII for £1,200 (about £350,000 in today’s money). The Hall that the Company purchased from King Henry VIII in 1543 had been the private residence of Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex until his execution in 1540, when it was confiscated by the Crown.
    city_throgmorton-03-17-07-2017.jpg
  • The entrance gates of Drapers' Hall livery company in Throgmorton Street, on 17th Juy 2017, in the City of London, England. The Drapers’ Company is a Livery Company in the City of London whose roots go back to the 13th century, when as its name indicates, it was involved in the drapery trade. While it is no longer involved in the trade, the Company has evolved acquiring a new relevance. Its main role today is to be the trustee of the charitable trusts that have been left in its care over the centuries. The Company also manages a thriving hospitality business. The first Drapers’ Hall was built in the 15th century in St Swithin’s Lane.  It bought a Hall on the present site in Throgmorton Street in 1543 from King Henry VIII for £1,200 (about £350,000 in today’s money). The Hall that the Company purchased from King Henry VIII in 1543 had been the private residence of Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex until his execution in 1540, when it was confiscated by the Crown.
    city_throgmorton-02-17-07-2017.jpg
  • Before finalists take part in their last exercises at a gymkhana pony competition, these rosettes prizes seen here in close-up detail wait to be claimed by young winners and losers. From the top we see prizes for Reserve Champions then those for 1st prize, then second, third and runners-up at the very bottom. Such accolades are won and lost by fractions of a second but their importance is remembered for years afterwards as young girls desperately practice to improve their equestrian skills. A huge commitment is needed by the girls and their parents who spend great deals of money and time for these treasured prizes which can be won or lost by fractions of seconds or single points. Those that fail to win go home feeling empty-handed or perhaps cheated out of victory and glory. Those who win hang them on bedroom walls for years to come.
    crufts_rosettes03-16-1987.jpg
  • Before finalists take part in their last exercises at a gymkhana pony competition, these rosettes prizes seen here in close-up detail wait to be claimed by young winners and losers. From the top we see prizes for Reserve Champions then those for 1st prize, then second, third and runners-up at the very bottom. Such accolades are won and lost by fractions of a second but their importance is remembered for years afterwards as young girls desperately practice to improve their equestrian skills. A huge commitment is needed by the girls and their parents who spend great deals of money and time for these treasured prizes which can be won or lost by fractions of seconds or single points. Those that fail to win go home feeling empty-handed or perhaps cheated out of victory and glory. Those who win hang them on bedroom walls for years to come.
    rosettes-17-09-1999.jpg
  • It is night-time on Blackpool's Golden Mile, the seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Like an English Las Vegas the neon lights glow to entice the holidaymaker inside where slot machines, games and rides await visitors to lose their vacation money. The Golden Mile is the name given to the stretch of Promenade between the North and South piers. It emerged in the late 19th Century, when small-time fairground operators, fortune-tellers, phrenologists and oyster bars set up in the front gardens of boarding houses, This northern seaside resort in the north-west of England is diverse in its transient holiday population whose behaviour can be routinely odd. Blackpool is the largest resort in the north of England and visited traditionally by working people from industrial towns and cities during the industrial revolution.
    blackpool01-30-07-1993.jpg
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