From collection Kosti Ruohomaa Collection
ARMA Plant Workers 18
In this image plant workers wearing aprons stand and work at what appear to be high-precision boring machines inside a factory space, focusing on the work before them.
In 1945 Ruohomaa took on a Time/Life assignment to capture life inside one of the home front factories: this one an ARMA Plant which produced electrical appliances for the U. S. military. Scenes include higher and lower skilled workers performing hand as well as machine tasks. The images reflect the modern machinery of the retooled plants as well as the new demographic of the wartime labor force: women, African Americans, and older people.
As he often did when photographing people at work, Ruohomaa shoots from a low angle, which has the effect of heroicizing his subjects.
