A Dying Industry
(2023)
Tags
Student WorkPhotographySocialPhotojournalismDocumentaryLabor & IndustryStorytellingOn-site ResearchA Dying Industry is a documentary photo series that examines the decline of textile manufacturing in North Carolina through the lived experiences of the workers who remain in the industry.
For decades, textile manufacturing played a central role in the state’s economy, shaping entire communities built around mills and factories.
The project examines how economic shifts, globalization, and technological change have reshaped a once-dominant sector, while keeping its focus on the human stories behind that transformation.
Each day begins the same way.
Workers enter the mill, moving from the outside world into a space defined by routine, noise, and repetition.
Inside, machines line the floor in long, continuous rows.
Keeping them running requires constant awareness and steady labor across every shift.
Experience matters here.
Years spent at the loom have trained workers to read subtle changes in motion, sound, and tension that machines alone cannot detect.
The work leaves its mark.
Repetition, strain, and long hours are carried in the hands that guide the process and keep production moving.
As the industry has declined, fewer workers remain on the floor.
Time passes in quieter aisles once filled with movement and conversation.
Breaks offer brief relief from the physical demands of the job.
They also serve as moments to step back from an uncertain future shaped by layoffs and closures.
Despite these challenges, those who remain continue their work with focus and discipline.
Their commitment reflects a profession sustained by resilience rather than recognition.
Textile manufacturing in the United States now survives through adaptation and persistence.
The workers who remain embody the strength of an industry that endures, even as it fades from view.
