Drying Room

That is a cool back-story.
Did you shoot a lot of frames at that place.?
Might make a pretty interesting Series/Book

@CMoore I've been photographing the coal mine sites in Omuta since they started closing down in the early 90's. It pretty much devastated its economy. I shot hundreds of sheets, rolls and rolls of film, there. I've had three major exhibitions in Omuta, the most recent back in 2015, when the oldest of the mines (some of the old brick buildings there are well over 100years old), was awarded World Heritage designation. I became friends with the cultural minister of the city. He gave me a key so that I could access the sites at anytime (that's an interesting story in itself!). For that kind gesture, I gifted to the city a portfolio of 30 prints.... carbon transfer, and kallitypes. I was supposed to be back there last March with my camera, but covid messed that up.
When I had a my first show of this series, a textile artist loved the print (gelatin silver contact) of this image. I was quite please that she came back and bought it on the last day. That show was an eye opener for me. I finally realised the power of the photograph. Another image from this series in my gallery, Locker Room, I gave to a woman who came to my exhibit everyday. She would just stand in front of the print. She had tears in her eyes. I asked her if she was okay, and she told me that when she was a child, she used to wait for her dad there, at the bottom of the steps, to come off his shift. He was killed in a huge explosion in the mine. This happened in the 1960's. I was quite moved, and asked her to come back on the last day, as I would like to give it to her. She brought a huge box of grapes from her brother's vineyard in exchange! That exhibit pretty much sealed it for me as far as me and photography was concerned.
Cheers and thanks for commenting!

@Andrew O'Neill ...... very interesting. Thank You

That's a very touching story, thank you for sharing it. I'm reminded of the photographic statements of Jacob Riis and Lewis Hine.

What an amazing story.