To mark International Labour Day on Monday, I thought I would browse through two photographic collections where I knew there would be some great images of people at work. The first set of photographs is from Mongolia (EAP264). I could have picked so many, the themes range from working at the coalface, tanners, the clothing industry, shop assistants and perhaps my favourite which was taken inside a sausage factory. The second set was taken by Annemarie Heinrich (EAP755) and show people at work in Argentina. Here we have brick makers, greengrocers, sugar refinery workers, images of an abattoir and timber yard employees.

Both collections date roughly from the 1930s to the 1950s and are visually appealing, but it is clear that the work was physically demanding and often carried out in dangerous conditions. Do visit these collections for yourself and see what other gems you can discover.

EAP264/1/5/1 Ulaanbaatar’s power plant operation, auto mechanical shop as well as metal work

EAP264/1/5/6 early coal mining activities

EAP264/1/5/6 cheerful coal miners

  EAP264/1/5/2 Skin processing in Ulaanbaatar factory

EAP264/1/5/2 Timber processing in Ulaanbaatar

EAP264/1/5/4 Mongolian shop

EAP264/1/5/5 Sausage factory 

EAP755/1/1/32 Making bricks

EAP755/1/1/37 Selling squash

EAP755/1/1/108 Sugar refinery, Tucumán

EAP755/1/1/139 Timber workers

EAP755/1/1/139 Abattoir work

EAP755/1/1/139 Cargo carriers