Pietropaolo, Vincenzo. Canadians at Work by Vincenzo Pietropaolo.

Canadian Auto Workers Union, 2000. Fine hardcover with very good plus protected dust jacket.  198 photographs in black and white, mostly by Vincenzo Pietropaolo. Summary: The book Canadians at Work by photographer Vincenzo Pietropaolo is a sweeping photographic chronicle of Canadian labor at the turn of the millennium. Commissioned in 1999 by Canadian Auto Workers Union to mark the millennium, Pietropaolo (with a team of five other photographers) travelled across the country — from Newfoundland’s fishing villages to the Haida Gwaii islands on the Pacific, to Nunavut and urban centers — capturing people at work in a wide variety of industries: manufacturing, mining, fishing, shipbuilding, aerospace, retail, health-care, transport, agriculture, and more.  Through more than 200 pages of photographs and an introductory essay by Sam Gindin, the book aims to reclaim “workers from their historical anonymity,” putting faces and dignity to the often-invisible labor force behind Canada’s economy. Its purpose is not merely documentary: this is a tribute — a “voyage of photography” that reveals the diversity, resilience and shared humanity of Canada’s working class, weaving together a collective portrait of a nation at work.  Note: Due to weight, postage for this substantial book is more than most I have for sale.  Biographical summary:

Vincenzo Pietropaolo (born 1951) is a Canadian social documentary photographer, author, and educator renowned for his empathetic visual chronicling of urban life, labor movements, and immigrant experiences. Born in Italy, he immigrated as a child with his family to Canada and settled in Toronto. Self-taught as a photographer, he initially documented his adopted city's working-class communities in the 1970s before spending fifteen years working as an urban planner for the City of Toronto. In 1991, Pietropaolo returned to full-time independent photography, building a distinguished career focused on social justice topics, including Canadian labor protests, seasonal migrant farm workers, religious rituals, and city streetscapes across North America, Latin America, and Europe. He has authored and edited over a dozen books pairing his photography with original writing—such as Kensington (2000), Making Home in Havana (2002), Not Paved with Gold (2006), and Harvest Pilgrims (2009)—and was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in recognition of his contributions to documentary photography and multiculturalism.