Boy dragging a glowing block to a row of furnaces in a factory building. Several other boys are seen at work behind him.

Harry K. Shigeta was born on July 5, 1887 in Ueda, Japan, and came to live in Seattle, Washington at the age of 16. He later spent time in Minneapolis, Los Angelas, and Chicago where he worked in several portrait photography studios. In 1930 he partnered with fellow photographer George Wright to open Shigeta-Wright Studio and became known for his modern and often industrial photographs. (Christian A. Peterson, Sotheby's, 2021)