Blum's interest in photographing workers comes from the twenty five years he spent working as a shipfitter and welder in the Boilermakers Union, Local 6. He prefers to photograph workers on the job and is especially committed to documenting trades that are threatened or disappearing. Recently he has taken pictures of shipyard, forge, bridge and high iron workers, steel fabricators, pile drivers and carpenters. Blum relies on his background in the trades to blend in on a job site and relax until his potential subjects are no longer self-conscious. He sometimes waits several hours before shooting for half an hour. To get the spectacular angles that appear in his work he climbs up on the high steel beams just as the workers do. Currently, he is documenting the construction of both the Al Zampa Bridge, across the Carquinez Strait and the new section of the Bay Bridge
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