News
Friday, 30 April 2010
Special Exhibition: The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work
An exhibition of photographs and texts from The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work, the bestselling book by philosophical author Alain de Botton, is on show at the Museum of the History of Science. The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work showcases 16 photographs taken by documentary photographer Richard Baker as he followed Alain de Botton on his research trip for the book. The images are juxtaposed with specially-selected extracts from the book.
Richard Baker’s dramatic and humorous photographs show some of the more unusual places and ways in which people choose to spend their working hours. The images, featuring places and spaces from logistics hubs and rocket launch sites to airplane ‘graveyards’ and even a biscuit factory, offer a novel perspective on the modern workplace.
Dr Stephen Johnston, Assistant Director of the Museum of the History of Science, curated the exhibition. He said "The big challenge was selection: Richard Baker created more than 600 images for the book project and just 16 have been chosen for the exhibition. So there were difficult decisions, but it was also a delight to be able to pick out some of the particularly striking and beautiful images which were not published in the book."
The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work will run until Sunday 5th September and admission is free. The framed photographs and texts are on sale.
