In the late summer of 2024, I accompanied writer Francheska Melendez on a 3 day trip to Sevilla, to report on Andalusia’s burgeoning aerospace industry. The resulting story was published in the December 2024 issue of Monocle Magazine.

 

The bulk of our reporting took place inside Seville’s two huge Airbus manufacturing hubs, one located close to the city centre, and the other by the airport. Over the years I’ve photographed inside dozens of factories and warehouses, and it’s always an interesting challenge. In the case of Airbus, my goal was to make sense of a visually complex location, with very flat artificial light. I’m fortunate to have worked with Francheska on many previous occasions, and she is always willing to stand in as my assistant and hold a small strobe to add some dynamism to a scene. Even a small amount of illumination on the propellor of a A400M aircraft proved enough to give emphasis to the machinery.

 

 

I also decided to prioritise elements of the factory where the engineering could be seen on an epic scale, and the visual elements had a strong composition.

 

 

There’s always a risk with these pieces that the visuals can be too static, so I used long exposures to bring movement into the edit. This was particularly effective in the pilot training centre, that welcomes 3000 students each year from all parts of the world.

 

 

Each aircraft contains a myriad of cables and circuitry, and it’s essential that each of these elements is installed in the correct position. Airbus engineers use 3D goggles to assist in the installation process.

 

 

Teams of experts are assigned the complex task of arranging and testing each cable in advance of the installation. Circuitry and cable plans are projected from overhead onto their workstations.

 

 

As well as visiting Airbus, we also took the time to report from two smaller companies that are at the forefront of technology in their respective fields. At GRVC Lab, Aníbal Ollero is leading a team of researchers in the development of flapping wing drones, that replicate the mechanics of a bird – even down to their ability to land on branches and wires.

 

 

As soon as I saw the prototype drones, I thought immediately of Alec Soth’s portrait of Charles in his seminal work ‘Sleeping by the Mississippi‘. In the short time that I had with Aníbal Ollero, I was able to pay homage to Soth’s iconic photograph.

 

 

Meanwhile, at Solar MEMS, a young and ambitious team of engineers, under the guidance of José Manuel Quero, are manufacturing the next generation of sun-sensors for space exploration and satellites. I tried to create a futuristic vibe when documenting their facilities on a non-descript industrial estate on the outskirts of Sevilla.

 

 

For my portrait of José Manuel Quero, I utilised the glass clad stairwell entrance – while the location itself was rather drab, there was a great deal of reflected and refracted light, which gave me a suitably ethereal backdrop.

 

 

A big thanks to Andrew Tuck and Matthew Beaman at Monocle Magazine for commissioning this story, it was truly a pleasure to work on and I’m delighted with how it turned out.