These are the individuals who provide the foundation for our lives.

"The Tradesmen: Making an Art of Work" is a social documentary that explores many different aspects involved in blue collar work in contemporary America. It will engage the viewer as they watch the vocational lives of several Baltimore tradesmen as it examines the work, idiosyncrasies, and personal convictions of the multitude of working professionals. It is a real and unflinching look at the current state of blue collar work in America.

I was raised in a place called “Charm City” – most know it as Baltimore. Growing up, I vividly remember the blue-collar nature or the individuals and the city itself. At this point in my life I no longer have a daily connection to the blue-collar worker, and I have lost touch with the very essence of my upbringing and the people who occupy my childhood and adolescent memories. After graduating from college, moving away from my hometown, and entering the workforce, I began to notice a pervasive bias against work that required any form of manual labor and described as blue collar. In principle, this sentiment without any firsthand experience was unfair and disparaging towards tradesmen and their work. But why are such attitudes ubiquitous within our current cultural landscape? Where does the current cultural bias come from? Is it influenced by technological advances and novel opportunities in other occupations? Or opinions of limited financial prosperity in trade-work, and the potential for higher wages in other fields? Or is it inherent in the current educational curriculum and paradigm? I wanted to produce a documentary which sets out to explore the questions.