Trade Route

Commissioned by The Lowry in 2002 and sponsored by Canada Maritime, Trade Route was as part of the Gateway to the Commonwealth exhibition. The work followed a modern day shipping route onboard the cargo ship Canmar Pride, which sailed across the Atlantic Ocean from Canada to England. The images explore issues of human solitude against the scale and industrial nature of the containerization process.

Trade Route links the Salford Quays and The Lowry with global locations through recording the journey of a cargo of glass from Montreal, Canada to Thames Port England. Exploring the banal objects and spaces of the shipping trade the photographs exudes a sense of peaceful beauty rarely associated with commercial industrial spaces. The strange emptiness invites us to imagine the human face behind international trade.