Over the last year I've been fortunate to spend a lot of time visiting pinball manufacturing facilities with multiple trips out to Stern Pinball, Jersey Jack Pinball and Barrels of Fun. Usually when I'm there my assignment, as it were, is to photograph new release pinball machines for review on this website and other places.
However, one of my personal pet projects of late has been taking photos of the line workers in these facilities. The people who don't get name recognition in the hobby, they don't do interviews or podcasts, but they do clock in day after day to grind out parts manufacturing and assembly for the games that we love.
Collectively, there's a narrative that emerges as I look at the final photos. Or at least hints of stories worth exploring in more detail.
With our current cultural climate, I find myself wondering what these workers lives are really like. I want to ask them what they are worried about, what causes them stress, and what brings them joy. I want to know more about their goals and ambitions and what they find interesting, rewarding, and challenging about their work. I want to know what they think about the experience of working in a manufacturing facility that produces expensive toys for predominately wealthy individuals. I want to know what they think about the current state of life in America.
I don't know that I will ever get to tell these stories in the way I envision. The narratives are fraught with politics and controversy, and risks upsetting pinball's key buying demographic which leans older and more conservative.
But, for now, I can take these photos, and they tell their own stories.
Photos of The People Who Make Your Pinball Machines
Colin is the chief pixel pusher at Kineticist. He's a lifetime gamer who became enamored with pinball after taking in a family copy of the 1979 classic Joker Poker (the EM version). Since then he's bought, sold and repaired many machines, competed in all kinds of tournaments, and contributes to This Week in Pinball, the New England Pinball League, and Pin-Masters of New England. Previously, Colin spent over a decade working in marketing for agencies and tech startups. He also started and ran a music blog, happy hour website, and wrote a regular craft beer review column for Central Track in Dallas. Once aspired to be an artsy film director.