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

portrait in motion of a blacksmith, David Bradley, hitting an iron rod

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

a hot piece of metal being cooled in a shining metal container filled with water

tools in a blacksmith’s workshop, bright red, yellow, and blue

David Bradley, blacksmith hammering a spoon in his work space, sunlight filtering into the outdoor studio

This project is a proof-of-concept for the kind of mode and style I want to work in – immediate and intimate, with a dense and high-contrast look. I hope to document many artists within the Colorado Springs arts communities in this manner. This is an early stage in my documentary photography project Art Emerging.