Statement of Intent
Based in Herstal, Belgium, Browning produce some of the world’s finest handmade shotguns. The individual craftsmen take years to train into a tradition that’s been around for centuries in the Liege area.
My assignment was to document the painstaking manufacturing process and to capture portraits of each expert, for use in print, web and exhibition posters.
Black and white seemed appropriate, with a little touch of chiaroscuro in homage to Browning’s gunsmithing heritage, and to stand out from the competition.
The photographs were taken over two days, a week apart. My initial assignment was to
document the famous B25 superposed shotgun, designed by John M Browning in 1925.
However, when I returned for the second day, an urgent order had arrived for Browning .45
pistols and the small team had been reassigned. The brief had evolved but the commitment
to excellence remained the same.
