Darlington amateur photographer Steve Watts has won national recognition for his striking images of industry in the North-East. He talks to Ruth Addicott about the visual magic of manufacturing

A photographer is always on the look-out for an inspiring muse and for amateur snapper Steve Watts it came in the form of an engine exiting the paint-drying process at the Darlington Engine Plant. The image not only wowed the judges and beat off stiff competition from across the UK, but won silver at the annual EEF/Lombard manufacturing photography awards.

Steve’s photo of the engine, entitled Hot Property, was one of 43 pictures shortlisted and is now on display in The House of Commons. He and the two other runners-up also won a share of £5,000 worth of Canon photography equipment. The competition has been running for six years – this is the third time that Steve has been a runner-up – and aims to raise the profile of British manufacturing.

An associate engineer, Steve has worked for Cummins for 17 years and over time has taken a whole range of photographs from engines being assembled to royal visits, including one by the late Princess Margaret. When he heard about the competition, aimed at showcasing the manufacturing industry’s creativity, diversity and heritage through inspiring photography, a colleague persuaded him to enter.

“It’s quite easy to put a camera on a tripod and point it at the skyline and take a photograph of a few hills, but trying to explain to someone through a lens what manufacturing is with the engines and processes is a lot more technical and a massive challenge,” he says.

Steve took photos at Cummins documenting the different stages of production, showing staff assembling engines, using power tools and programming robots. His aim is to tell a story through the lens to enable people to understand how the assembly lines work and how things are manufactured.

“I’m always trying to get an impressive image, something powerful where you get that ‘wow’ effect,” he says. “We use robots in a lot of automotive places now and it’s amazing how they get programmed to do specific tasks, if you don’t know how they operate and what they can do, when you actually see them for yourself it’s quite impressive.”

Steve, who lives in Darlington, first developed an interest in photography in his early 20s and has also built a portfolio of landscape shots featuring High Force, in Teesdale, and Mount Vesuvius, across the Bay of Naples. He prefers manufacturing, though, as he sees it as more of a challenge.

In 2012 he took an image of the Infinity Bridge in Stockton, which also came runner-up in the competition. The theme for entries was ‘Made in Britain’ and as the bridge was constructed by Cleveland Bridge Construction, it gave him the opportunity to combine his passion for landscape images and manufacturing. He has also focused on the complex engineering of the London Eye and on a visit to the US, he photographed the Atlantis Space Shuttle at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral.

Steve uses a Canon 5D mark 111 camera and ‘L’ series lenses, and uses Photoshop where needed to adjust the light. So what’s the key to making manufacturing ‘sexy’?

“It’s light levels and sharpness,” he says. “It’s very difficult because you have got to work with the minimum amount of light. When you’ve got no light, you have to rely on yourself to keep the camera as stable as possible because you’ve got to slow the camera down to get as much light into it as possible to get a sharp image.”

“Manufacturing is a great subject to photograph because it is so diverse and provides lots of opportunities for dramatic shots. It’s challenging as there are so many different ways of looking at it, whether it’s traditional or modern manufacturing, an up-close shot of an engineer, or the intricate manufacturing process itself. I don’t think it’s dull at all.”

One of the biggest challenges he faces is getting access to take photographs. He has approached several leading manufacturers in the area, but sometimes struggles to get authorisation.

“I know I could take images which are a lot better than the ones I have taken, but I need access to the subject matter,” he says. “I went to take photographs at one chemical plant and the security guard turned me away at the gate. So I took some photographs from where I was standing and went back home. The next day I had CID at the door and I had to show them proof I was a photographer. It’s getting the opportunity, so that I can show what my capabilities are - and hopefully win the competition next year.”

Having spent many years working in industry himself, Steve is keen to promote the area. “We need to put the North-East on the map,” he says. “We have lost so much manufacturing in the region. I just feel that what is left should be celebrated.”