Work Collection

Stilt fishermen at Welligama, south coast, Sri Lanka, Indian Ocean, Asia

MS. MAGAZINE, 1972. Cover of the first issue of Ms. magazine, spring 1972

HINE: CHILD LABOR, 1911. Three young oyster shuckers at the Maggioni Canning Co. in Port Royal, South Carolina. Photograph by Lewis Hine, February 1911

Burton on Trent coopers at work. March 1937 P014467

Ploughing with shire horses, Derbyshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe

CAPITALIST PYRAMID, 1911. American Socialist poster

DIEGO RIVERA: DETROIT. Automobile Industry. Large detail of Diego Riveras mural at The Detroit Institute of Arts, 1932-1933

CAILLEBOTTE: PLANERS, 1875. The Floor Planers. Oil on canvas by Gustave Caillebotte

Butlers Wharf, Shad Thames BB87_09745
BUTLERs WHARF, Shad Thames, London. A cargo of bananas in specially ventilated crates is unloaded and transferred into the warehouse via a conveyor belt while two foremen in bowler hats look

Champagne wine cellar, Reims, Champagne, Ardennes, France, Europe

The Angelus (c1857-1859). At the sound of the Angelus bell from the church in the distance, peasants pause in their work to say an evening prayer. Jean Francois Millet (1817-1875) Musee d Orsay, Paris

Station Master BB98_05551
STATION MASTER, Finmere Station, Oxfordshire. In 1898-99 the Great Central Railway Company (formed 1897) created a main railway route from Sheffield through Nottingham and Leicester to London

Comptometer Room, Stratford Cooperative Society 1914 BL22762
STRATFORD CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY, Maryland Street, Stratford, Greater London

Range Rover Mk. 1 Classic
car, Range, Rover, Classic, British, Britain, England, English, UK, United, Kingdom, mustard, 1973, 1970s, 70s, seventies, classic, hatchback, hatch

Children labelling tins of tea c. 1910, Butlers Wharf BB87_09690
BUTLERs WHARF, Shad Thames, London. From 1921 children had to be at least 12 years old before they could work full-time, though some of these boys look younger

Firefighters and hoses, LFB annual review, Lambeth HQ LFB150
London firefighters from East London demonstrating mass jets during the Annual Review display at the Brigades headquarters. Lambeth, SE1

Massey Ferguson tractor with McHale baler, round baling silage in meadow, Yorkshire Dales, Yorkshire, England, september

RIVERA: PRE-COLUMBIAN LIFE. The Zapotec Civilization. Mural, c1925, by Diego Rivera at the Ministry of Public Education, Mexico City

Oseberg replica Viking ship, Norway

Smithfield Market BL22966_004
SMITHFIELD MARKET, London. Smithfield has been the site of a market since the Middle Ages, originally selling horses, cattle and pigs

Clifton Suspension Bridge BB89_03974
CLIFTON SUSPENSION BRIDGE, Bristol. The bridge under construction. Work began on the bridge in 1836 under the supervision of Isambard Kingdom Brunel but stopped due to lack of funds

Coal mine in England, 1850s
Removing coal in the Bradley mine, Staffordshire, England, 1850s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th century illustration

Land Rover Defender TD5

Land Rover Defender

Abel Beesley, University Waterman in 1901 CC71_00075
FISHER ROW, Oxford, Oxfordshire. The waterman Abel Beesley on his punt full of bundles of rushes with old Pacey Bridge in the background. Photographed by Henry Taunt in 1901

Pay day, Butlers Wharf, Shad Thames BB87_09666
Pay day at Butlers Wharf, Shad Thames, London. A line of workmen collect their wages from a hatch, while a security guard looks on. Photographer unknown, c.1910

Postman, Harnham, Salisbury OP04500
HARNHAM, Salisbury, Wiltshire

Big Ben Clock Tower CC73_02867
PALACE OF WESTMINSTER, London. Inside the clock tower. Maintenance on Big Ben clock face

Blitz in London -- turntable ladder in operation, WW2
Blitz in London -- turntable ladder in operation, with firefighter and hose

THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. Line engraving, American, 1862, after a painting by Richard Elmore

John Deere combine harvester, harvesting Barley (Hordeum vulgare) crop, filling trailer pulled by tractor with grain, England, july

DIEGO RIVERA: DETROIT. Detail from Diego Riveras mural depicting the American automobile industry at The Detroit Institute of Arts, 1932-1933

Medieval goldsmith at work
Workshop of Etienne Delaulne, a goldsmith in Paris, 1500s. Hand-colored woodcut reproduction of a 16th-century illustration

Land Rover Defender TD5

Land Rover Freelander 2

Blacksmith, Norfolk a98_13558
Woodbastwick, Norfolk. Interior of blacksmiths shop. A farrier shapes a horseshoe on his anvil. Photographed by Hallam Ashley, February 1949

Large atrium in the Lloyds Building, designed by Richard Rogers, City of London, London, England, United Kingdom, Europe

The old trading floor of the London Stock Exchange, before Big Bang, City of London, England, United Kingdom, Europe

Wessex helicopter winching up survivior in rescue from sea

Swimming flag and patrolling lifeguard at Bondi Beach, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, Pacific

Air this is your country, don't let the big men take it away from you. Gas station. Kern County, California

The Coventry Climax Engines ET199 the first British-produced forklift truck, seen here being demonstrated by a girl worker at the Coventry factory that produces the truck

The Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Limited was a Scottish shipbuilding company in the Govan area on the Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland. 5th January 1966

The Jarrow March. The marchers left Jarrow on 5th October 1936. They reached London on 31st October 1936 and they returned to Jarrow on 5th November 1936

Building Rotherhithe Tunnel BB99_06817
Rotherhithe Tunnel, Rotherhithe, Southwark, London. The south entrance to the Rotherhithe Tunnel during construction

The grape harvest at the Chateau de Saumur (Loire Valley)
BOOK OF HOURS: SEPTEMBER. The grape harvest at the Chateau de Saumur (Loire Valley, France) in September. Illumination from the 15th century manuscript of the Tres Riches Heures of Jean, Duke of Berry

Blowing glass in a British factory, 1800s
Workers in a crown-glass factory, Great Britain, early 1800s. Hand-colored engraving of a 19th-century illustration

Farrier, Cambridgeshire a98_10862
Soham, Cambridgeshire. A blacksmith, or farrier, shoeing a horse with a young boy looking on. Traditional skills and crafts are learned by starting young and through generations of experience

Reproducing Roman pottery at Ashtead, Surrey. Roman ideas for modern households. A potter at work making reproductions. 28th August 1926

Port Talbot Steelworks, circa 1958

The pithead and winding gear at Coventry Colliery at Keresley 31st January 1974

Building the HTP warehouse on Malpas Road, Truro, Cornwall. Around 1911
Warehouse being built for HTP (Hosken, Trevithick and Polkinhorn), who were agricultural and grain merchants

George Garland in a garden with his camera, September 1938 George Garland Collection West Sussex Record Office Ref No: Garland N17335

Fittleworth Smithy interior with two blacksmiths
Fittleworth Smithy interior. Two blacksmiths, one working at the forge and one at the anvil. Many tools and horseshoes shown

Detail of Diego Riveras mural at the Detroit Institute of Arts depicting the American automobile industry
DIEGO RIVERA: DETROIT. Detail of Diego Riveras mural at the Detroit Institute of Arts depicting the American automobile industry, 1932-33

DIEGO RIVERA: DETROIT. The central scene in Diego Riveras mural, depicting the American automobile industry at The Detroit Institute of Arts, 1932-1933

Maids, Byfield, Northamptonshire BB98_06062
Before the liberating 1960s a career for many women meant making the choice between secretarial work, healthcare or service

Daily Telegraph Office, Fleet Street 1913 BL22128_04
DAILY TELEGRAPH OFFICE, Fleet Street, London. Interior view. The linotype room in the Daily Telegraph Office in the City of London

NYPD police car, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States of America, North America

Tractor towing baler unloading drum bale, Wannock, Sussex, England, United Kingdom, Europe

Rag and bone cart a064811
A horse-drawn rag and bone cart standing on the road outside the Builders Arms public house at 1 Kensington Court Place, Kensington, London, with St. Albans Mansions visible beyond. John Gay

Harvest AA97_05926
Harvesting with a mechanical harvester near Hellidon, Northamptonshire. Alfred Newton and Son July 1902

Part of the tremendous stores of Stephen and Sons Ltd shipyard, Glasgow. This was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Linthouse, Govan in Glasgow, on the River Clyde. Circa, 1950s

Coal Miners at Whitwick Colliery hwere they smashed the record for the country producing 258 tons Circa 1960

Stilt Fishermen at dusk, Weligama, South Coast, Sri Lanka, Asia

Quarry in Mabe or Constantine, Cornwall. 1903-1904
A view of the quarry face showing two workers with sledge hammers standing by a granite block that is being dressed. Part of the Freeman & Sons, Penryn Collection. Photographer: Unknown

Polkanuggo Quarry, Stithians, Cornwall. September 1902
A view of the quarry face showing workers sitting on a granite block weighing an estimated 2, 738 tons. It was claimed to be the largest single block ever quarried

WEST VIRGINIA: COAL MINE. The next trip. Coal miners sitting in a mining car, ready to go into the mine shaft at Maidsville, West Virginia. Photograph by Marion Post Wolcott, September 1938

LAURA KNIGHT (1877-1970). Nee Johnson. British artist. Self-portrait with nude model Ella Louise Naper (nee Champion). Oil on canvas, 1913

Shoreham harbour BB060004
Shoreham By Sea, West Sussex. Two horse-drawn ballast carts in the sea beside the slipway of Stow and Son Yacht Builders, Shoreham Harbour. Photographed by E J Bedford between 1905 and 1925

Women of Britain, Come into the Factories
WWII: BRITISH POSTER. Women of Britain, Come into the Factories. British poster recruiting women for munitions work during World War II, by Donald Zec, c1941

The Girl He Left Behind Is Still Behind Him
WORLD WAR II POSTER. The Girl He Left Behind Is Still Behind Him. American World War II recruitment poster for women ordnance workers

Burning the candle at both ends C014 / 1258
Burning the candle at both ends. Conceptual image of a candle that is lit at both ends, representing overwork and exhaustion

The kitchen of Delmonicos Restaurant, New York City. Photographed by Joseph Byron, 1902
DELMONICOs RESTAURANT. The kitchen of Delmonicos Restaurant, New York City. Photographed by Joseph Byron, 1902

Land Rover Discovery

Butlers Wharf BB87_09741
BUTLERs WHARF, Shad Thames, London. Crates of goods wrapped in straw for protection are unloaded in London and set on the conveyor belt to the warehouses

Kitchen, New College, Oxford, 1901 CC49_00204
NEW COLLEGE, Oxford, Oxfordshire. Cooks at work in the college kitchens. The men are preparing joints of meat and a spit of chickens is leaning against the wall, ready to be roasted

Timber Yard, Lambeth 1916 BL23561_029
TIMBER YARD, Hamptons Munitions Works, Lambeth, London. While many women were employed during WWI to work in factories, the heavier work was still often left to men

Reed cutting, Norfolk a98_07734
Horning Ferry, Norfolk. Cutting reeds with a scythe on Woodbastwick Marshes. Photographed by Hallam Ashley in February 1949

Reed cutting, Norfolk a98_07731
Horning Ferry, Norfolk. Reed cutter bundling reeds on Woodbastwick Marshes. Photographed by Hallam Ashley in February 1949

Star Wars set, Chott el Gharsa, Tunisia, North Africa, Africa

North Star in Swindon Works, c1925
2-2-2 broad gauge locomotive

Marmalade factory, Oxford CC66_00389
Male and female workers at Coopers Marmalade Factory, Oxford, Oxfordshire. Henry Taunt 1902

Dickens Brothers leather works, Northampton BB99_05292
DICKENS BROTHERS, Northampton. Photograph of interior of leather works c.1929. Preparing leather for the shoe and boot industry

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EDITORS COMMENTS

"Work: A Tapestry of Time and Struggle" In the spring of 1972, Ms. Magazine graced the shelves with its first issue, marking a pivotal moment in the feminist movement. As women fought for their rightful place in the workforce, this cover served as a powerful symbol of empowerment. Across the Atlantic, in Derbyshire, England, shire horses ploughed through fields with unwavering determination. Their labor spoke volumes about the resilience and dedication required to make ends meet. Meanwhile, an American Socialist poster from 1911 depicted a capitalist pyramid—a stark reminder of societal inequalities that plagued workers during that era. The struggle for fair wages and better working conditions echoed throughout history. Diego Rivera's mural at The Detroit Institute of Arts captured the essence within the automobile industry during the Great Depression. This masterpiece showcased both pride and hardship experienced by countless individuals who relied on this sector for their livelihoods. Gustave Caillebotte's painting "The Floor Planers" transported us back to 1875 Paris where manual labor was essential for progress. It highlighted how every stroke had purpose—each worker contributing to society's advancement. The Oseberg replica Viking ship reminded us that work has evolved over centuries; it represented exploration and trade routes carved out by brave sailors who risked everything for prosperity. Fast forward to more recent times—the iconic Range Rover Mk. 1 Classic became synonymous with hard work paying off—an emblematic vehicle representing success achieved through perseverance and dedication. At Butler's Wharf on pay day, workers eagerly awaited their well-earned wages—a momentary respite from daily struggles but also a reminder that financial stability remained elusive for many even then. Diego Rivera once again left his mark with a mural depicting pre-Columbian life in Mexico City—a testament to indigenous civilizations' industriousness long before modern notions emerged.