Deadly Cost of Cheap Clothing


  • Photographer
    Abir Abdullah
  • Prize
    Honorable Mention
  • Company/Studios
    Pathshala Siuth Asian Media
  • Date of Photograph
    From 2012-2013
Story

Both man-made arson and accidental fires are a continuous death threat for the working class communities of Dhaka. From basti (slum), to garments factories, to shopping malls. Corrupt officials who ignore building codes, and greedy businessmen who bypass fire protection have both home and work spaces are death traps.

As the city has grown too quickly, lack of fire safety precaution is everywhere. But the impact is most visible in the garments industry of Bangladesh, which is also the country's most successful business sector, earning $19 billion from exports last year alone. Factory fires and the recent Rana Plaza building collapse have killed more than 1700 garment workers since 2005.

But global headlines came with the horrific fire at Tazreen Fashion factory in November 2012. At least 117 people were confirmed dead in the fire (and activists claim more bodies were "disappeared" by authorities), making it the deadliest factory fire in the nation's history. 53 workers bodies could not be identified due to severe burns and were buried in mass grave. Tazreen's clients, either directly or through subcontractors, included global giants Walmart, US Marines, Sears, Disney, and Enyce. As a result, this fire became the symbol for the high cost paid by third world workers for western consumer's fashion desires. The issue has been brought all the way to US President Barack Obama, via a letter signed by US Senators.

"Ma (mother), I have no way to save my life,” Palash Mian told her on the phone, calling from inside the factory. "I cannot find any way to get out. I am in the bathroom of the fifth floor. I am wearing a black T-shirt. And I have a shirt wrapped around my waist. You will find me in the bathroom.” Dead bodies were lined up with white bags in a school ground near the factory. Palash’s mother, Ms. Begum unzipped a bag and found a corpse wearing a black T-shirt.

I have been photographing fire risks in Dhaka for the last couple of years, including terrible fires at slums, garment factories, homes, shopping malls etc. But even with all that experience, I paused while photographing a charred face. I didn't know her name or didn't have time to wait for the relatives to identity her so that I could get her name. May be a mother, a wife or a daughter– to me a human being, and sadly now a corpse. Army soldiers had cordoned off her body along with others. It was difficult for me to take that photograph of a small ornament visible on her destroyed nose. I felt grief and anger and guilt for taking such a gruesome portrait. But I also know that news agencies will clamor for this photograph. The world only gives such people importance and headlines when they are dead, ignoring them when they are alive. The price of your cheap, fashionable clothes is those deaths.

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