James Russell, Character (Portrait (2018))

Historic wool sheds exude character. Some house hundreds of years of blood, sweat and lanolin, mingled with echoes of stories of long, hard days past. They are the workplace of a unique group of men who continue a long legacy of backbreaking, yet gracefully skilful hand work. Similar to the sheds in which these men ply their craft, they also ooze character. They appear hard and cold, yet once thawed a little, are sharp in wit and warm in conversation. These candid portraits attempt to simply and honestly capture these men as they are - humble, hardworking and quick to crack a joke or share a yarn. The photographs were all captured in historic wool sheds in the New England High Country using only available light. They were produced in black and white to strip away the distractions and simply show these men at their most basic...their character.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.