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Furnace man at phosphate smelter, TVA chemical plant near Muscle Shoals, Alabama. June 1942. View full size. Photograph by Alfred Palmer.
This is one of many terrific photos by Palmer. He doesn't get enough respect. On the walls of my home office I have prints of five FSA-OWI photos. Four are by Palmer. His photos of work and industry are stunning.
It's remarkable that Alfred Palmer doesn't seem to get the same praise that his contemporaries receive. Maybe it's because his photographs always seem to be perfectly exposed, and perfectly posed. It is truly a shame, because his images are superlative.....
This reminds me of when I was young I worked in a foundry, they would melt pig iron in a furnace like this one, the man who operated the furnace was getting burned all day and also had to deal with the heat and always had to worry about a blow up, the iron after it was cast would stay "red hot" for a couple of days, actually glowed red the first day. thanks for the memory.
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