[4] She studied dance at private schools in Germany, and as a young woman she worked as a model, dancer, and actress, appearing in at least one film in 1926.
[6] In 1932, Palfi became an apprentice at a commercial portrait studio in Berlin and also began working as a freelance magazine photographer.
[7] One of her photographs was published on the cover of the first issue of Ebony magazine, featuring the Henry Street Settlement of New York's Lower East Side.
Her work was used to garner legislative change when "The American Parents Committee" showed her photographs to members of Congress.
[4] In her photo book There is No More Time: An American Tragedy, Palfi documented racism and segregation in Irwinton, GA, the site of the murder of Caleb Hill, the first reported lynching of 1949.
She originally had trouble getting her photographs displayed or show cased because many Americans refused to address these social justice issues within their own society.
She photographed the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee offices after they were burned down, went to the residence of Dewy Green, and met with activists.
She additionally chronicled, in photography, the opening of Prince Edward County schools in 1964, and the end of Massive Resistance.