In my last entry I said I was going to visit the brink yards the very next day, and today was that day. Today started at 6:00 am because as soon as 10/11:00 am hits, the temperature soars to a whopping 35 degrees. Not really conditions I enjoy photographing in. When 4:00pm comes around the temperature drops to around 26 degrees. So I gathered my equipment and headed towards the center of Surkhet, veering off the side of the bridge, walking down the dried up riverbed, past the river bank communities whose shacks were a little damaged for the storm 2 days ago, over the dried up rice patty fields, next having to yield to a herd of goats and water buffalo, and finally arriving at the brick yards 45 minutes later.

This place has been the highlight of Surkhet for me personally except for maybe the children of Kopilla Valley Childrens Home & School (www.blinknow.org) and almost everyday we spend playing an hour of football (soccer) after school. The brick yards themselves are not very large but the pits they bury the clay in our massive, around 150ft. by 40 ft. For those of you that don’t know how bricks are made here is a quick run down. You dig a hole where some clay is, you shape the clay inside a rectangle piece of metal (exactly like a cookie cutter), you let that piece of clay dry out in the sun until all the moisture has evaporated. Then in a large hole you bury the dried up piece of clay covering it in fine ash, sand, and dirt where specific holes are built around this pit so you can place the hot coals inside the surrounding holes. Once everything is covered you let the dried up clay bake under ground just like your oven does to a chicken for a certain amount of time, then you dig the clay rectangles out of the pit and VWOLLA…. You have a brick!!

The brickyard employs about 40 workers to each yard and these workers range in age from 12 yrs old to 80. It was quite upsetting to see actual children working in this type of place and conditions especially when bricks randomly fall down, the narrow pathways and steep banks are very difficult to navigate through, and there is EXTREMELY HOT ASH EVERYWHERE. And to to no surprise the woman are doing all the work as the men sit around and get pissed.

As I started to shoot all I got was blank stares, lots of smiles and very shy workers. After about 20 minutes or so creating small talk by asking their name, how they are doing, can I take their picture, they didn’t even realize I was there and that’s how I like to photograph my subjects in situations like this. By gaining their trust, I like my subjects completely oblivious to my presence so that I can photograph them while  they are vulnerable but also completely comfortable with me working in and around their environment.

I hope you like what you see. If you do, tell a friend, subscribe to my BLOG via by e-mail, send me a message if you have any questions, leave a comment and have an awesome day!!

Cheers,

Jeremy

 

ABOVE: Sukma Katel

 

ABOVE: Sukma Katel

 

Above: Ram Bahadur

 

Above: Ram Bahadur