Work in this region was mostly farming inland and fishing on the coast. There were many trades based on local produce, such as cutting the Broadland reed – or schoof stuff – for animal litter. The waterways also needed boats and supplied plenty of game birds for hunting. The labourers had simple but hard lives, tied to the land. Many were very poor, but Emerson thought they were heroes, the last members of an old England unspoiled by industry.

Emerson worked at photography. He always used large cameras because he wanted a large negative to make contact prints, without enlargement in the darkroom. He always used a tripod on land. On boats, he fixed the camera to the side or tied poles to the tripod, which he planted in the water. He used lenses that gave a soft outline and dry-glass plates, which he developed the same day while the impression was still fresh.