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Photos: Portraits of Tampa Bay Times press workers

The Tampa Bay Times will stop printing at its 34th Street plant on March 7, 2021. About 150 people will lose their jobs. The paper will be printed in Lakeland going forward. Photographer Brian James spent several shifts with the workers at the plant documenting the process and making portraits of the people who brought the pages of the Tampa Bay Times to readers for many years.
By Brian James and Chris Urso
Published Mar. 3
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Presses run at the Tampa Bay Times printing plant in St. Petersburg. Brian James, brianjamesgallery.com
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A sign encourages pride in your work at the Tampa Bay Times printing plant. Brian James, brianjamesgallery.com
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Rolls came in by truck or rail from Canada, and Shawn Smith, 52, and his team stacked them warehouse ceiling-high in neat, brown towers at the Tampa Bay Times printing plant. Brian James, brianjamesgallery.com
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José De La Torre, 57, had just finished an associate’s degree in computer engineering in Puerto Rico, but he found work at the Times plant and never left. Brian James, brianjamesgallery.com
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For Joe Figiel, some days were grueling at the Tampa Bay Times printing plant. Some were beautiful. It was always interesting. “What’s amazing is how you can get your stories out by deadline, and we can get it in print the next day.” Brian James, brianjamesgallery.com
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Ben Hayes, the director of operations at the Tampa Bay Times printing plant, started in the mailroom when he was 19. He met legendary owner Nelson Poynter on day one. Brian James, brianjamesgallery.com
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Kevin McTier stacked papers in the Tampa Bay Times plant mailroom at first, then became a janitor. “This is the real world, Kevin,” he told himself, seeing the presses for the first time. “You’re in it now.” He would watch people in the plate room laying blue and red film. The intricacies of it fascinated him. He applied and applied, and made it to the press. Brian James, brianjamesgallery.com
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Marty Butcher is one of the few Tampa Bay Times printing plant staffers getting picked up at the Lakeland plant. He hoped for nightside but will drive 108 miles, round trip, for a day shift. Brian James, brianjamesgallery.com
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Nicholas Valencia, 37, started in the mailroom, stacking bundles. Then, and all along the path to press management, pride was everything at the Tampa Bay Times printing plant. Brian James, brianjamesgallery.com
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Lannis Thomas hired nearly 100 people at the Tampa Bay Times printing plant. Most had never seen a press. He remembered his own awe and intimidation, and worked to put them at ease. Brian James, brianjamesgallery.com
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Sam Jordan, 61, was there if you needed him at the Times printing plant. He had worked on plane electronics in the Air Force, then in construction, but the plant was something else, like the General Motors assembly line in its prime: “Holy cow, that’s a lot of steel.” He fixed, rewired, maintained, upgraded the finicky plate-makers and tying machines. Brian James, brianjamesgallery.com
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Truck driver Terry Schofield’s run for the Tampa Bay Times took him to Riverview. All of the racks of papers in the back of the Peterbilt were his responsibility, from the press to distribution centers where the carriers awaited. Brian James, brianjamesgallery.com
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Richard Gunnels would load rolls of paper while the Tampa Bay Times presses consumed them, ensuring the flow did not break. Brian James, brianjamesgallery.com
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In 2006, the year of record revenue for the then St. Petersburg Times, the press runs were unbelievable. Joe Figiel liked the challenge. Some days were grueling. Some were beautiful. It was always interesting. “What’s amazing is how you can get your stories out by deadline, and we can get it in print the next day.” Brian James, brianjamesgallery.com
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This work was physical, and unfolded at night, after David White, 51, put in a day of teaching at Bayside High School. He and co-workers stacked 20-pound bundles on pallets at the Tampa Bay Times printing plant, sometimes for four or five hours straight if the presses ran smoothly. Brian James, brianjamesgallery.com
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“You thought a newspaper would be around forever,” said Paul Geisert, 52. He knows it’s hard to imagine “the enormity of what it takes to get it done.” Geisert is a night press distribution manager at the Tampa Bay Times printing plant. Brian James, brianjamesgallery.com
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A quarter-century of nights, of lunches taken after dark at the Tampa Bay Times printing plant. Of waiting for plates in the beginning and scraping ink off the presses at the end. “I haven’t painted my nails in, oh, 20-something years,” said Ladda Peterson, 54. Ink gets under the nails and bond solution ruins the paint. “I’m going to paint my nails every other day.” Brian James, brianjamesgallery.com
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Ladda Peterson, 54, tapes rolls at the Tampa Bay Times printing plant. Brian James, brianjamesgallery.com
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The presses run at the Tampa Bay Times printing plant. Brian James, brianjamesgallery.com
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The front page of the Tampa Bay Times runs through the presses. Brian James, brianjamesgallery.com
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Some of the machinery in the press room at the Tampa Bay Times printing plant. Brian James, brianjamesgallery.com
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