P.E. Guerin

Browsing through Eric’s archive-his life's work stacked atop a dusty maple-wood table - I came across a black-and-white negative. It captured a fleeting moment: tiny casts stacked on rusted shelves. Months later, I traced the image back to its origins - P.E. Guerin, the historic architectural foundry that has stood in the West Village since the mid-1900s.

Curious to follow Eric’s footsteps, I called the owner, who remembered him vividly. As he led me through the foundry’s historic townhouse, the air was filled with the buzzing of turbulent machines and the rhythmic hammering of metal. Left to explore on my own, I ventured into a small workshop at the back of the house, its air thick with dust. Boxes, their labels fading and edges crumbling, crowded the dimly lit space. Yet, amidst the gloom, colorful Christmas lights flickered - casting a glow onto the moment I was about to capture: a hunched worker, hammering brass ornaments, fully absorbed in his craft.