Labor

Photographer-in-Residence with 1906 Group and Clark Construction as part of The Art of Building. These are excerpts from an ongoing project focused on construction laborers throughout the United States. From The Art of Building website:

As part of The Art of Building, 1906 Group employs a Photographer-in-Residence who spends a year or two visiting job sites, offices, and manufacturing facilities across the United States within 1906 Group’s portfolio, capturing the art of building through photography. From time to time, 1906 Group also partners with artists in other mediums such as sketching, illustration and painting to capture The Art of Building.

The program seeks to highlight the “champions” – the craft workers - who deliver the built environment. Individually and collectively, these craft workers are responsible for the monumental efforts required to build our nation’s infrastructure. Their work deserves to be documented.

Click here for The Art of Building website

Labor

Gensler
2020 K St NW
Washington, DC 20006

Opened 2025 November 7

It is hard to imagine a world that is different from the one we are used to. It is almost a given that our homes, offices, roads, and airports exist, let alone are maintained. Behind our work days, nights out, and travels across the country is an intricate and masterful ballet of logistical planning and exhausting labor. Long before the sun rises until long after it sets, the men and women responsible for this dance are hard at work.

As part of The Art of Building, 1906 Group employs a Photographer-in-Residence who spends a year or two visiting job sites, offices, and manufacturing facilities across the United States, capturing the art of building through photography.

The program seeks to highlight the “champions”—the craft workers—who deliver the built environment. Individually and collectively, these craft workers are responsible for the monumental efforts required to build our nation’s infrastructure. Their work deserves to be documented.

Since 2024, alexander laurent rubalcava has been our fifth Photographer-in-Residence. alexander lives in New York City, where he works on long-form documentary projects focused on the relationship between people, their ideologies, and their environments.

Labor

Published by 1906 Group, LLC
Designed by Tomáš Hlava
Essay by alexander laurent rubalcava
Printed by L'Artiere Edizioni in Bologna, IT

23.0 x 29.5cm
160 pages
99 duotone plates on uncoated paper

Edition 500 copies