Joseph Wiecha
Getting access to photograph the Canadian oil rigs is very difficult, so when The Discovery Channel asked me to shoot promotional stills for their TV series Licence to Drill, I quickly accepted this unusual opportunity. For the men who work on these rigs, the pay is high, but the work is brutal, physically demanding, and relentless – with six day weeks and 12 hour shifts. My goal was to try to celebrate the effort of their labours, and to capture the pleasure many of these men find in the physical work. You can’t help but reflect on the cost to our environment while visiting these rigs – and hope for better energy alternatives than oil and gas. But my assignment was to document the human side of the rig. And I tried to do that.
Weekend portfolio selected by W.M Hunt
