Talking photography: Maurice Broomfield

Listen to photographer Maurice Broomfield (1916 – 2010) talk about some of his most iconic industrial photographs, taken inside Britain's factories in the 1950s and '60s.

Maurice Broomfield photographed the changing face of industry. Most of his photographs were commissions to illustrate reports and advertise products for manufacturers. His images show skilled men and women proudly at work in factories throughout the UK and abroad. Today, he is considered to have created some of the most spectacular and important depictions of 20th-century manufacturing.

Open the slideshow to explore a selection of Broomfield's most celebrated photographs. Press play to hear Maurice Broomfield speak about each image.


Featuring excerpts from a 2007 interview between Maurice Broomfield and V&A Senior Curator of Photography, Martin Barnes. Listen in full at British Library Sounds.

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Header image:

Preparing a Warp from Nylon Thread, photograph by Maurice Broomfield, 1964, gelatin silver print, printed 2006. Museum no. E.3730-2007. © Estate of Maurice Broomfield