Earl Dotter

Earl Dotter (born July 24, 1943) is an American occupational photographer best known for documenting some of America's most dangerous jobs, including coal mining, textile manufacturing, asbestos, emergency responders at the World Trade Center site, and healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. His work is included in the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.

Education Dotter graduated from San Jose State College in 1967. While attending he purchased a Rolleiflex camera and started photographing the San Francisco Bay Area.

Career Dotter documented dangerous mine work and black lung disease for the United Mine Workers of America. Many labor unions and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration have used his work. He has also participated in the Great Labor Arts Exchange.

One of Dotter's photographs was used on social media without permission as part of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, according to the Mueller report.

Dotter taught photography at Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy and has been a visiting scholar with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health for 25 years. His photography archive is being acquired by Duke University Libraries' David M. Rubenstein Rare Books and Manuscripts Library. 2015: Lifetime Achievement Award from New England College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2016: Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization’s Tribute of Inspiration Award