By These Hands: Portraits From The Factory Floor [Paperback]

David L. Parker (Author), Peter Rachleff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2002

From a foundry in which the very fires of hell seem to blast to an air-conditioned computer control room in which the workers appear casual and comfortable, David Parker's lens captures what Peter Rachleff calls 'a performance, a ritual, an exercise centuries old' -- men and women at work on factory floors. These photos, taken in 20 plants in all parts of Minnesota, explore the common bonds of industrial labour. Whether it's the Ford plant in St Paul, the Potlatch paper mill in Cloquet, or the Toro engine manufacturer in Windom, Parker seeks to honour 'the collective genius of the American worker'. Excerpts from interviews with the workers reveal their opinions on such diverse topics as health care and child care, union activity, immigrant labour, and the effects of globalisation. Their words and these photos document industrial labourers and the factories in which they work, revealing how workers interact with each other and their environment and how the culture of labour is reflected in the jobs women and men do. An appendix provides a history and description of each workplace, detailing the magnitude of production and the constant ingenuity required to manufacture even the most common products. This book is a tribute to the women and men who process the foods we eat, manufacture the cars we drive, and produce the goods that make our lives comfortable.

Product Details

• Paperback: 127 pages
• Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society Press; 1 edition (November 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0873514424
• ISBN-13: 978-0873514422
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 10.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,052,918 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blue collar brigade, August 26, 2009

By 

Robin Benson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: By These Hands: Portraits From The Factory Floor (Paperback)

A fine selection of photos from the factory floor. Photographer Parker chose to focus on blue-collar industries rather than the wider service sector and though the twenty-one companies featured are located in Minnesota these photos could have been taken in any state that has a large industrial base.

Parker's photo style is straight reportage, no gimmicks or dubious angles because what he shoots is interesting enough anyway, whether it's an actual assembly line or guys constructing something big on a factory floor. Most of the shots concentrate on a worker and what they are doing and to break the pace there are quieter images of equipment close-up or maybe part of a plant with no-one in the frame.

I think the book compares very favorable with Lee Friedlander At Work though Friedlander was more concerned with presenting his photo impression of work while Parker's book has a brief caption for each photo and nicely, at the back of the book there is a Minnesota map showing the plant locations and five pages with background copy about the companies. Rather oddly US West (a service company) is mentioned as one of them but it only features in two photos which relate to an industrial dispute.

The book is a handsome design job (thanks to Will Powers at the publishers) though I would have preferred to see the photos in a higher screen that the 175 used and printed on a matt art paper to bring out the detail in so many of the images. Still, this is an excellent look at what goes on in an environment that is not normally seen though millions work in.

***SEE SOME INSIDE PAGES by clicking 'customer images' under the cover.