This was one of the more interesting commissions from the last month.
Hugh Baird College were hosting the regional heats of the national SkillBuild competition, where competitors from colleges throughout the north-west tackled tough briefs in various disciplines related to the construction industry. The concentration and determination in the faces of the competitors was tangible and even the spectators spoke to each other in hushed voices to avoid breaking their intense attention to the matter in hand.
SkillBuild is managed by CITB-ConstructionSkills, the Sector Skills Council and Industry Training Board. It is the UK’s largest multi-trade competition and is part of ongoing work to bring new blood into the construction industry. Hugh Baird College was chosen to host one of the fourteen regional heats this year, with the highest scoring competitors from across the country going on to compete at the three day SkillBuild UK final (12 – 14 September) at Preston College. The categories include bricklaying, cabinet making, carpentry, dry walling systems, joinery, painting and decorating and plastering.
My brief was to photograph the days events, showing all of the different disciplines and showing how the competitors were progressing during the course of the day. This was followed by photographing the prize-giving afterwards. Some of the images from the day are below and also on Hugh Baird College’s Facebook page
