A PHOTOGRAPHIC CHRONICLE
OF HAZARDOUS WORK IN AMERICA

By Earl Dotter

CONSIDERING THE TOLL IN LIVES lost and shortened by disease, America's workplaces have indeed created a quiet sickness in which the individual tragedies are largely unseen by the public. Far too many workers of all descriptions experience a quiet sickness within their own bodies as the cumulative effect of long-term exposure to toxic chemicals and carcinogens finally manifests itself.

Mr. Dotter first encountered what was to become the inspiration for this book's title in a humble textile mill community in Greenville, South Carolina. As it turned out, the village's cotton mill workers had contracted Brown Lung disease as a consequence of exposure to cotton dust while on the job at the local mill. Byssinosis victims cannot usually sleep through the night due to constant coughing brought on by the disease. The community had these signs erected to help victims rest at any time of day. ...next page >

The images in this book and traveling exhibit are a 25-year chronicle of the individual cost in health and lives lost by those who perform essential but often unnecessarily hazardous tasks to make the U.S. economy one of the most productive and profitable in the world. Dotter brings to these photographs a sense of compassion expressed simply in the credo: "I feel rage when people are not properly treated. I want my photographs to convey the intensity of feeling that I experience." The images in this volume are visual evidence of what he so deeply believes.

Published by AIHA Press / Format: 9-1/2 inches x 10-1/2 inches, 172 pages, 100 lb. dull coated paper, 150 varnished duotones, with dust jacket.

Photography Subjects

"Mr. Dotter is a fearless, magnificent photographer. I am in awe of him for his dedication to his social commitment and his powerful images."

Cornell Capa, Founding Director Emeritus, International Center of Photography

"Earl Dotter follows in the steps of the famous social documentarians Jacob A. Riis and Lewis W. Hine, who taught us how to look at dehumanizing aspects of living and work. Like theirs, his photographs are meant to make us conscious not only of dangerous conditions of work, but more importantly, of the effects of such conditions on working people and their families."

Naomi Rosenblum, Photohistorian and Author of A World History of Photography, Abbeville Press

"Earl Dotter enjoys a national reputation for his workplace photographs. He seeks out those individuals who take steps to improve their lives. The images that result tell of the satisfaction of work as well as of its dangerous and dehumanizing aspects."

David C. Christiani, MD, MPH, Director, Occupational Health Program, Harvard School of Public Health