Wrenches on the Workbench

A pile of my dad’s wrenches fills the frame, layered across one of his worn wooden workbenches. Open ends, box ends, adjustable jaws, and long handles overlap in a dense arrangement, each tool carrying scratches, stains, and years of use.

I remember how many different wrenches he had and how naturally he seemed to know which one he needed. Bringing them into my studio and arranging them like this gave me time to really look at the tools I had seen around me for years, and to appreciate the marks his work had left on them.

Part of Donna Dufault’s Tool Project, a collection of 19 black-and-white still life photographs created in 2002 using tools from her late father’s garage.