Oliver Pattison

documentary photography

David Bradley, blacksmith hammering a spoon in his work space

blacksmithing in Manitou Springs

David Bradley is an artist and blacksmith who makes heirloom ironwork at the Manitou Art Center. He primarily crafts functional cookware. The metal is crafted with care and precision under many iterations into the flame and out again, rapidly heated and cooled, shaped like a living material.

the moment of impact as a blacksmith’s hammer hits a piece of iron
a glowing piece of iron about to be hammered
a blacksmith using a power hammer on a piece of glowing metal
a moving power hammer working on a piece of glowing orange metal
the moment of impact as a power hammer hits a small piece of metal
portrait in motion of a blacksmith, David Bradley, hitting an iron rod
a hot piece of metal being cooled in a shining metal container filled with water
molten iron in a dark gray oven, glowing bright orange
a piece of metal being shaped into an S pattern, like a snake
a nearly finished metal snake sculpture being brushed
a nearly finished metal snake sculpture being treated with bee’s wax, steaming
tools in a blacksmith’s workshop, bright red, yellow, and blue
David Bradley, blacksmith hammering a spoon in his work space