From Raw Cotton to Cloth
Pressly Hall, Chester, SC
James L. Hughes III, Emory University
James L. Hughes III, Emory University
Abstract
Through video and still photography, James Hughes
III and Pressly Hall document the production of unfinished sheeting from
raw cotton at Springs Mills' Katherine Plant in Chester, South Carolina.
Photo-Video Essay Sections:
Process of Making Cloth:
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Opened in 1968, the Katherine plant was the last of four Springs
cotton mills operating in Chester, South Carolina. Hughes and Hall
captured these images shortly before the plant was scheduled to
close in February 2007 and transfer its weaving operations to Brazil.
Although the highly mechanized factory required few workers, the
Katherine Plant’s closing marked the end of an era for this
Carolina Piedmont town, with its history of textile manufacturing.
The slides and video footage presented here offer a rare glimpse
of the manufacturing sequence which occupied the lives of hundreds
of thousands of southern workers over several generations. Photo Essay |
 |
 |
The Life of Cotton
at the
Katherine Plant of Springs Mills (11:49 min.) This short video follows the process of making
unfinished sheeting from raw cotton at the Katherine Plant of Springs
Mills (now Springs
Global) in Chester, South Carolina in 2006. |
 |
About the photographer and filmmaker:
Pressly
Hall is a professional freelance photographer living in Chester, SC,
specializing in documentary work, advertising, still life, and portrait
photography, as well as production work for film commercials. She has
a BA in English from Erskine College and an AA degree in Commercial Photography
from Randolph Community College. After four years working in Manhattan,
Hall returned home to Chester, SC, where she opened Pressly Hall Photography
in 2000 and pursues documentary interests in areas of midwifery and southern
culture.
A native of Chester, SC, James L. Hughes III is currently a PhD student in the Graduate Institute of Liberal Arts at Emory University. His research interests include twentieth-century southern culture, documentary film production, and NASCAR's impact on contemporary American culture.
A native of Chester, SC, James L. Hughes III is currently a PhD student in the Graduate Institute of Liberal Arts at Emory University. His research interests include twentieth-century southern culture, documentary film production, and NASCAR's impact on contemporary American culture.
Photo-Video Essay Sections:
