Djarum
All-Pro
- Location
- Huntsville, AL
- Name
- Jason
sorry to hear it john. Hopefully something will open up soon.
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Latest Victim of the Wonderful US Economy...
- Thread starter entropic remnants
- Start date
KillRamsey
Hall of Famer
- Location
- Hood River, OR
- Name
- Kyle
Well this is a kick in the crotch. Do Not Approve.
I may have missed it but do you have some amazing south american getaway plan all ready to put into action? (crosses fingers)
I may have missed it but do you have some amazing south american getaway plan all ready to put into action? (crosses fingers)
Andrewteee
All-Pro
Sorry to hear about the loss of your job! Back in the days of the Internet bust I survived 13 rounds of layoffs - it was a very depressing, demotivating atmosphere.
FWIW a friend of mine recently joined a clothing startup and they are firing on all cylinders and cannot keep up with demand. They bought a textile plan in North Carolina, modernized it and are hiring and training new employees weekly. They were recently featured in a recent NYTimes article on a resurgence in the US textile industry. Made in America is huge right now. In your case I wish that was the same for the steel industry. Too bad our new Bay Bridge was largely built in China.
Sadly, poor management appears in every industry. I cannot stand poor management who are unwilling to admit that they could do better and make efforts to do so. Nothing will kill a company faster than its own management.
FWIW a friend of mine recently joined a clothing startup and they are firing on all cylinders and cannot keep up with demand. They bought a textile plan in North Carolina, modernized it and are hiring and training new employees weekly. They were recently featured in a recent NYTimes article on a resurgence in the US textile industry. Made in America is huge right now. In your case I wish that was the same for the steel industry. Too bad our new Bay Bridge was largely built in China.
Sadly, poor management appears in every industry. I cannot stand poor management who are unwilling to admit that they could do better and make efforts to do so. Nothing will kill a company faster than its own management.
entropic remnants
Hall of Famer
- Name
- John Griggs
So many kind and encouraging comments, thanks all!!! Some of you have also written me directly and I very much appreciate that, I must say.
I know I said I'd address some things, but I've been reluctant to talk too much about it as I work through a "mourning" period. 22 years made it seem like my home and I feel like some stranger just foreclosed on it.
Chris, I think it is pure-D BS. The bankers have come touring to evaluate the property and its contents for sale -- not how you handle things for a simple "downturn". No, they're closing but for certain reasons don't want to say that. You see, if they keep less than 16 people there, it triggers a status of "operations ceased" and the EPA (environmental protection agency for you non-Americans) will immediately begin assessing this 100 year old site for cleanup and begin charging the owners for the process, and any necessary operations to clean it up afterwards.
So, they (Evraz Inc. North American) are retaining exactly 16 people at our site to maintain the fiction that it will be reopened. In that situation they are classed as "operations suspended" and that keeps the EPA out.
The fact is, they lie a lot and that's even borne out by a couple of articles by noted business analyst John Helmer who writes the syndicated blog "Dances with Bears" about Russian business practices.
First, Evraz has not been forthcoming about their overall financial state: FIBBER ABRAMOVICH — EVRAZ TELLS TALL TALES ON COST-CUTTING, BUT DEBTS KEEP GROWING
Second, they have likely misrepresented their reasons for "suspending" our operations, perhaps for political purposes: MORE FROM FIBBER — EVRAZ INCREASES PRODUCTION AT CLAYMONT STEEL; EVRAZ CLOSES CLAYMONT STEEL: IS THIS A PLOY TO STOP UKRAINIAN EXPORTS TO THE US?
The so-called "team members" at Evraz (if I hear that term "team member" again out of a corporate mouth I may have to take a swing at it, lol) are really just pawns in a much larger game.
I know I said I'd address some things, but I've been reluctant to talk too much about it as I work through a "mourning" period. 22 years made it seem like my home and I feel like some stranger just foreclosed on it.
Wow, John, I'm very sorry to read this!
My mother was in a similar situation a couple decades ago, she worked for a company that designed a revolutionary hinge for eyeglasses - the owner designed the machinery and everything. They sold bunches of hinges worldwide to high-end frame makers, but eventually the business was forced to close due to competition from cheaper knock-offs/alternatives.
The article you linked implies there is a possibility of the plant restarting operations at some point down the line. Do you think this is genuine, or just PR spin?
Chris, I think it is pure-D BS. The bankers have come touring to evaluate the property and its contents for sale -- not how you handle things for a simple "downturn". No, they're closing but for certain reasons don't want to say that. You see, if they keep less than 16 people there, it triggers a status of "operations ceased" and the EPA (environmental protection agency for you non-Americans) will immediately begin assessing this 100 year old site for cleanup and begin charging the owners for the process, and any necessary operations to clean it up afterwards.
So, they (Evraz Inc. North American) are retaining exactly 16 people at our site to maintain the fiction that it will be reopened. In that situation they are classed as "operations suspended" and that keeps the EPA out.
The fact is, they lie a lot and that's even borne out by a couple of articles by noted business analyst John Helmer who writes the syndicated blog "Dances with Bears" about Russian business practices.
First, Evraz has not been forthcoming about their overall financial state: FIBBER ABRAMOVICH — EVRAZ TELLS TALL TALES ON COST-CUTTING, BUT DEBTS KEEP GROWING
Second, they have likely misrepresented their reasons for "suspending" our operations, perhaps for political purposes: MORE FROM FIBBER — EVRAZ INCREASES PRODUCTION AT CLAYMONT STEEL; EVRAZ CLOSES CLAYMONT STEEL: IS THIS A PLOY TO STOP UKRAINIAN EXPORTS TO THE US?
The so-called "team members" at Evraz (if I hear that term "team member" again out of a corporate mouth I may have to take a swing at it, lol) are really just pawns in a much larger game.
Yeats
All-Pro
- Location
- New Jersey, USA
- Name
- Chris
Reading the article by John Helmer - and one of the related articles he links to - it really does seem there was a large dollop of disingenuity on the part of Evraz.
Rat bastards, I say.
Rat bastards, I say.
entropic remnants
Hall of Famer
- Name
- John Griggs
Let's drink a toast to the Rat Bastards, lol!
Jock Elliott
Hall of Famer
- Location
- Troy, NY
May they never find toilet paper when they go to a public restroom!
- Location
- Jersey Shore
- Name
- Steve
May they all live in interesting times.
twokatmew
Regular
- Location
- Lansing, Michigan, US
- Name
- Margaret
Oh, I'm sorry John. I wish you the best and will hope you find a great job quickly.
- Location
- Newcastle, NSW, Australia
- Name
- Sue
May their chooks turn into emus and kick their dunnies down.
entropic remnants
Hall of Famer
- Name
- John Griggs
Thanks, all. I think I'll be fine. In the meantime, I don't have as much to do as I used to, and a mechanical breakdown today gave me a chance to go to our sister site where the plates are rolled and get some photos. Basically making lemonade out of lemons, lol.
I will be doing a set after the plant closes called "Steel Mill Portraits" which will feature environmental portraits of a number of our folks. For now, I'm only going to post non-employees like this truck driver known only as "Broadway" who hauls wide and heavy loads of plate for some of our customers.
Steel Mill Portraits: Broadway by Entropic Remnants, on Flickr
And here's some shots from a set I'm slowly building from our final days of operation called "End of an Era" that will also only be published in full after we close.
End of an Era: Shipping Bay by Entropic Remnants, on Flickr
End of an Era: Slab Cutting by Entropic Remnants, on Flickr
The End of an Era: Future Urbex by Entropic Remnants, on Flickr
The End of an Era: Furnace Operator Works a Heat by Entropic Remnants, on Flickr
The End of an Era: At Peace by Entropic Remnants, on Flickr
The End of an Era: The Playboy Club - Half Ton Capacity by Entropic Remnants, on Flickr
The End of an Era: The Open Hearth by Entropic Remnants, on Flickr
The End of an Era: Electrical Distribution Room by Entropic Remnants, on Flickr
The End of an Era: Oh, The Power! by Entropic Remnants, on Flickr
I will be doing a set after the plant closes called "Steel Mill Portraits" which will feature environmental portraits of a number of our folks. For now, I'm only going to post non-employees like this truck driver known only as "Broadway" who hauls wide and heavy loads of plate for some of our customers.
Steel Mill Portraits: Broadway by Entropic Remnants, on Flickr
And here's some shots from a set I'm slowly building from our final days of operation called "End of an Era" that will also only be published in full after we close.
End of an Era: Shipping Bay by Entropic Remnants, on Flickr
End of an Era: Slab Cutting by Entropic Remnants, on Flickr
The End of an Era: Future Urbex by Entropic Remnants, on Flickr
The End of an Era: Furnace Operator Works a Heat by Entropic Remnants, on Flickr
The End of an Era: At Peace by Entropic Remnants, on Flickr
The End of an Era: The Playboy Club - Half Ton Capacity by Entropic Remnants, on Flickr
The End of an Era: The Open Hearth by Entropic Remnants, on Flickr
The End of an Era: Electrical Distribution Room by Entropic Remnants, on Flickr
The End of an Era: Oh, The Power! by Entropic Remnants, on Flickr
John, really great photos. I think you have a great idea there to document the last days and the people that are part of it.
- Location
- Northern New England
John - I'm very sorry to hear this. Good luck in whatever you choose to do. By the way, your portrait of "Broadway" is an incredible image.
. . . David
. . . David
KillRamsey
Hall of Famer
- Location
- Hood River, OR
- Name
- Kyle
I don't gush like this very often, and that's partly because I'm busy / lazy and it takes time, and partly because I really don't see something worth really high praise too often. That's probably as things should be. At any rate, this is what "gushing" looks like from me.
There's an vanishingly small intersection of overlapping circles on the great Venn diagram of Photgraphic Ability between technical skill, an imaginative / artistic eye, and a profound sense of humanity (and by that I mean first a deep understanding of the human beings in your presence, followed by a resulting change in your actions based on what you see and understand about other people around you).
- Many people have a great technical understanding of how to make photographic gear (including Post) create dramatic and dynamic images. There are people here who could make catalog-ready images with a disposable 35mm plastic lens drugstore film camera, without fail.
- Others here know relatively little about the theory and mechanics of what’s happening when the shutter releases, but they SEE well, and can somehow pull an engaging image out of what for most people would be just “stuff.”
- Others seem to have an eery knack for getting a still image of another human being to tell the viewer volumes about that person. They get the exact right instant on film, from just the right angle and perspective, to have the faintest trace of a grin or crinkled eyebrow lead the viewer through a beginning / middle / end of understanding about that person. This comes from a profound kind of empathy, as far as I can tell, on the part of the photographer. They’re just a little better dialed in to what others are experiencing, and their finger is right on the button.
You have all three, and my grand point here is that it’s incredibly rare to find them all in one person. I’ve launched into this novella to make 100% sure you understand what it is you have, and why it is so compelling, in the earnest hope that it fosters more of the same work, if not even better. Specific to that set of images up there, there is both humor (“Future Urbex”) and profound sadness (Broadway’s face – both the complexion of obvious long wear and hard life, and his facial expression which borders on exhaustion). It comes across very clearly through just the images themselves, without even the titles, that the photographer feels a strong emotional connection to the subject material, and is in fact actively mourning as the shots are taken. Yet it never panders. I can imagine versions of these shots that go too far, with hang-dog faces in close crop, set to one side with the empty and idle spaces behind them taking up the other 2/3 of the image. These don't pander - they just show massive capacity about to be idled. The greasy dirty equipment, the well-worn floors, battered columns, and hell even Broadway’s face – all of them have been beaten down and worn out, and are now no longer required, and will be essentially discarded. Jesus. It’s 10am and I need a beer.
Very, very good work. I’ll buy a gigantic glossy copy when it comes out.
There's an vanishingly small intersection of overlapping circles on the great Venn diagram of Photgraphic Ability between technical skill, an imaginative / artistic eye, and a profound sense of humanity (and by that I mean first a deep understanding of the human beings in your presence, followed by a resulting change in your actions based on what you see and understand about other people around you).
- Many people have a great technical understanding of how to make photographic gear (including Post) create dramatic and dynamic images. There are people here who could make catalog-ready images with a disposable 35mm plastic lens drugstore film camera, without fail.
- Others here know relatively little about the theory and mechanics of what’s happening when the shutter releases, but they SEE well, and can somehow pull an engaging image out of what for most people would be just “stuff.”
- Others seem to have an eery knack for getting a still image of another human being to tell the viewer volumes about that person. They get the exact right instant on film, from just the right angle and perspective, to have the faintest trace of a grin or crinkled eyebrow lead the viewer through a beginning / middle / end of understanding about that person. This comes from a profound kind of empathy, as far as I can tell, on the part of the photographer. They’re just a little better dialed in to what others are experiencing, and their finger is right on the button.
You have all three, and my grand point here is that it’s incredibly rare to find them all in one person. I’ve launched into this novella to make 100% sure you understand what it is you have, and why it is so compelling, in the earnest hope that it fosters more of the same work, if not even better. Specific to that set of images up there, there is both humor (“Future Urbex”) and profound sadness (Broadway’s face – both the complexion of obvious long wear and hard life, and his facial expression which borders on exhaustion). It comes across very clearly through just the images themselves, without even the titles, that the photographer feels a strong emotional connection to the subject material, and is in fact actively mourning as the shots are taken. Yet it never panders. I can imagine versions of these shots that go too far, with hang-dog faces in close crop, set to one side with the empty and idle spaces behind them taking up the other 2/3 of the image. These don't pander - they just show massive capacity about to be idled. The greasy dirty equipment, the well-worn floors, battered columns, and hell even Broadway’s face – all of them have been beaten down and worn out, and are now no longer required, and will be essentially discarded. Jesus. It’s 10am and I need a beer.
Very, very good work. I’ll buy a gigantic glossy copy when it comes out.
You said it all.Djarum
All-Pro
- Location
- Huntsville, AL
- Name
- Jason
Fantastic set John.
