Former Goodyear worker turns photographer to put focus on famous Wolverhampton firm
They depict another era, one in which production at the iconic Wolverhampton Goodyear factory was still underway but slowly drawing to a halt.
These impressive images have been released by former worker Mike Pearce who began taking them whilst he was working as a key operator for the firm.
Mike, aged 57 of Heath Hayes, who was based at the Bushbury Lane site for 28 years when he worked for Goodyear, left the plant at the end of October last year.
Reflecting on his time there, the married father-of-two still feels that the images of Goodyear have some poignancy.
He said: “I think it was about 10 years before bosses announced that the plant would close that we all got a sense of foreboding, knowing that the job wouldn’t last forever.
“So I started taking the photos of the site and looking at ways of making the plant immortalised in pictures.
“When they closed the tyre-making facility, I think that was really the point that it started to hit home to people and we had our own ways of documenting our time there. Spending 28 years working for the same company, you do develop strong relationships with the people you work this, and that’s what I wanted to show in the photos – the strength of the factory and its importance in the city.”
More stories from the Express & Star
Mike took the photos and enhanced them in Photoshop to bring out certain colours, highlights and shadows.
He said: “I learned that professional photographers these days still enhance their photos like the old photographers used to do in the dark room.
“Back then, the technique was called ‘dodge and burn’ where the luminosity of a photo could be only manipulated by the length of the exposure.
“Now, there’s a tool for that in Photoshop which makes it a lot easier, but the principle is the same. I think my Goodyear work is a lot more garish than the work I’ve done since. My newer work is more subtle, but the Goodyear photos are still special to me.”
Now, Mike, who has previously triumphed in several competitions, has developed his hobby of photography into a well-respected career. The former secretary of Cannock Chase photographic society who has just re-started his membership after a three year break, works for Webbs estate agents based in Cannock. He has used his skills to help sell an extra 35 houses a month.
