Coal-fired brick kilns of Bangladesh
Photographer: Bartlomiej Rubik
Exhibit Title: Coal-fired brick kilns of Bangladesh
Location: Bangladesh
Across Bangladesh, an estimated 7,000 to 8,000 coal-fired brick kilns operate as part of a widespread and largely unregulated industry employing hundreds of thousands of workers. Many are seasonal migrants from flood-affected regions, where the loss of land and livelihoods drives them toward kiln work.
Brick production is largely manual. Workers shape, carry and fire clay under constant exposure to dust, ash and smoke. The air in and around the kilns is dense with airborne particles generated both from handling raw materials and from the burning of coal. The industry is a major contributor to air pollution and is linked to significant respiratory health risks.
Child labor is present in this environment, with children often working alongside adults for long hours.
This work was photographed at multiple kiln sites on the outskirts of Dhaka, Chittagong, and Barisal.
This work began with an interest in the environmental conditions in Bangladesh, where the air is heavily polluted and visibility is often reduced. This led me to the brick kilns.
I started by photographing the extraction of mud from the river and followed its path through brick production, moving between sites and gradually focusing on the people working at the kilns, as the physical demands, repetition, and hardships of the work became clearer. Spending time there, I spoke with workers and listened to their stories. I was particularly struck by how work is shared across generations, with adults and children often working side by side.
This work was photographed at multiple kiln sites on the outskirts of Dhaka, Chittagong and Barisal and became a closer observation of the people and their conditions, with attention to realities that often remain overlooked, and to lives shaped more by necessity than by choice.
bart.rubik@gmail.com
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