When the Dust Settles
A photographic survey of the former Liggett & Myers tobacco factory in Durham, NC
by DL Anderson

Opening reception
Friday, October 17, 6:00 - 9:00 p.m.

On display October 17 - November 18, 2008

For many years Durham, North Carolina, was the world’s center of tobacco production. One of the largest manufacturers, Liggett & Myers Tobacco Co., operated out of a massive brick factory complex west of downtown. In early 2000, Liggett & Myers moved its operations to Mebane, NC, and sold the factory to Blue Devil Partners, a local development company, which renovated a portion of the former factory into West Village—a mixed-use complex of residential, commercial, shopping, and dining spaces. The second phase of development began in 2005, and DL Anderson was commissioned by BDP to make photographs of the 992,000 square feet of former factory space before it was permanently altered. Over the course of two and a half years, Anderson worked to capture the final glimpses of a mighty empire and the rise of a new era for the Bull City.
-- DL Anderson, 2008

With manufacturing moved to Mebane and renovations not yet begun, hard-hatted Anderson wandered the quiet factory complex with his cameras, curiosity, and only a hawk and a few pigeons to keep him company. As Anderson describes it, “everything had a layer of finely ground tobacco dust upon it. It was like snow, you could tell exactly where you had walked before or placed a tripod. When the demolition started, all that dust and plenty of other debris, were kicked up and flying all over the place - often requiring the use of a mask and goggles to walk around safely.” His photographs have soft, brown and amber tones to them, as if viewed through the scrim of tobacco dust. As demolition progressed, Anderson says “I was racing big men with crowbars and torches who were pulling everything out of the factory, which at that point had become my factory. I spent so much time there wandering around and appreciating the decay, working on the mystery of its purpose, that it hurt to see them ripping it all apart. So I kept on capturing the light, coming back to see how it was changing as new windows were knocked out.”