The Other Hundred

Today, depending on your timezone, is the launch of the The Other Hundred – Entrepreneurs photo-book and exhibition. This is the second edition of the The Other Hundred series which was initiated to provide a counterpoint to the mainstream media consensus about some of today’s most important issues. The first edition of the book was meant as a counterpoint to the Forbes 100, Bloomberg billionaires list and the countless other rich lists that are constantly making headlines. The second edition of the book focuses on alternative, everyday entrepreneurs.

I initially found out about the photo competition for the second edition of The Other Hundred book a week before the competition deadline closed in June last year, and I only had a couple of hours over a weekend to shoot images for the competition. Luckily I new someone who would be a perfect match for the competition criteria: Alexander Wright of Wellington Woodworks.

Alexander is the director of a small wood working collective based in Wellington, New Zealand known as Wellington Woodworks. The group’s seven members share a mutual interest in handcrafted woodwork, as well as a conscious concern for social and environmental issues. The collectives members lend one another a hand with jobs and have access to each others workshops, equipment, vehicles. The collective encourages familiarity and connectivity with the built environment, and strives to empower both individuals and groups by building and promoting community.

Alexander has a strong social and environmental ethics, which is exhibited in the character of the collective in their choice of materials and predominantly, the use of reclaimed and recycled timber which is preferred over freshly felled and sawn trees. Each piece of reclaimed timber is shaped as much by Alex as it is by its own unique history, and casting one’s eye over his collection of reclaimed timber invokes great curiosity at the stories hidden beneath the rough and weathered surface.

An important aspect of his endeavour is nurturing the development of co-operatives and/or collectives because he believes that working collaboratively is the most rewarding way to work: “collectives promote togetherness, people working with people rather than people working for people”.

My images were chosen, along with 99 other photographers from around the world, to be included in the second edition. A selection of the images which will be included in this year’s book, The Other Hundred – Entrepreneurs, is shown below:

Alexander Wright of Wellington Woodworks

Sam Keer, of Wellington Woodworks, uses a wood lathe and hand-held cutting tools to shape a piece of reclaimed wood which started out life as a chair leg.

Alex (right) and Sam, run a piece of laminated timber through a thicknesser to reduce the overall thickness of the wood.

Alex uses vernier calipers to measure the thickness of a series of laminated timbers which will be used to produce a kitchen worktop.

Testing the feel of the wood laminate to ensure each of the timbers is of equal thickness, producing a flush surface.

Alex’s desk.

An example of bespoke woodwork which Alex has created for a client in Wellington.

Alex’s workshop.

Sam’s workshop.

Alex trims a piece of timber to the correct length in his workshop.