Booth Event – Book Signing: Janine Wiedel

Vulcan’s Forge by Janine Wiedel is a groundbreaking documentation of West Midlands industry in the late 1970s. Originally shown at The Photographers’ Gallery in 1979, the exhibition garnered critical acclaim, solidifying the work as one of the most important of its generation.

In 1977, Janine Wiedel set out in her VW campervan to photograph industry in England’s West Midlands – once the heart of the Industrial Revolution. A region that was home to thousands of businesses – from potteries and jewellers to coal mines, steel and iron works – was in steep decline; underinvestment over many decades in both premises and machinery had created a depressing situation where once world-leading businesses were no longer competitive internationally and facing a grim future. Janine realised that this was a critical turning point in Britain’s industrial history and she set out to document the workers within their working environment.