When questioned about himself, soft-spoken Frank P. Palmer tends to give short answers, hiding behind wisps of gray hair. It takes topics like photography or China’s social development to make the 69-year-old German photographer’s eyes light up and his lips move rapidly. Unlike many of his peers who like to discuss the big picture, Palmer is more inclined to focus on thin slices. “Migrant workers are not the low end of society. On the contrary, they form its backbone and are true heroes,” he argues. 

Special Guests at a Photography Exhibition

Last year, Palmer’s photograph, Constructors - the True Heroes, bested more than 50,000 entries to win the grand prize in a 2009 photography contest titled “Beijing in the Eyes of Foreigners,” sponsored by the Beijing Municipal Government. He snapped the picture of four construction workers on film while they were 300 meters in the air, working on Tower 3 of the China World Trade Center, which is currently the tallest building in Beijing. The image captured a subtle pride masked by outward shyness on the faces of the workers. Wearing yellow hardhats and simple uniforms, the men gingerly walked across steel bars against a panoramic backdrop of Beijing’s central business district’s impressive skyline. The photograph depicts an attractive juxtaposition between the steel that has become the bones of society and the humanity at the heart of it.  The workers’ proud smiles are profoundly complemented by the majesty of so many buildings created by men such as themselves.

After winning the prize, Frank’s first impulse was to share his success with those construction workers. “It was important for me to find them,” he recalls. “It became part of my life. I wanted to tell them, ‘Your devotion is great’. For years I've been engaged in activities designed to give the public a better understanding of the contribution and sacrifice they’ve made.”