My Photo scholarship 2010 entry: Brick Workers in Bangladesh
USA | Wednesday, October 6, 2010 | 
flickr photos
World Nomad Photography Competition 2010
Story of Strength: Brick Workers in Keshabpur
Jessore, Bangladesh
December 2009
The Story of Strength: Brick Workers in Bangladesh
As you ride on a cycle-rickshaw through rural Bengali villages, you cannot peer into the distance without seeing a brick factory poetically punctuating the landscape. There are 6,000 registered brick workers, but many more illegal laborers--including the out-of-school children who were working beside their parents when I visited their factory. Despite the health and safety dangers that lurk, I wanted to capture the strength and human spirit of the Bengali people so that anyone could relate to their story.
Ellie's Story......
At a gathering last year my extended family kept asking why I traveled to Bangladesh; I realized that these inquiries were precisely why connecting cultures from opposite sides of the globe was so important. As the first member of my family to travel overseas, the photographs and stories I shared were culturally enlightening to people who had heard of Bangladesh only in a short news clip. As a citizen diplomat to both my local community and to global communities, I realized the role I could play in bridging cultures together and weaving common threads of humanity into a universal quilt of understanding.
As an architect and community organizer by training, I love studying new environments, building relationships and documenting the lives of those I encounter in an organic manner. I never want to stop exploring, sharing and revealing the realities of the world, and believe that I have the passion, work ethic, and creative perspective to excel in photography with opportunity and exposure. By winning the World Nomad Competition, Jason Edward’s mentorship will help me make my photography an even more powerful tool for storytelling, as well as allow me to help document the changing landscape of Bhutan.
Ellie's Webpage: <a href="http://www.ellievanhoutte.com" rel="nofollow">www.ellievanhoutte.com</a>
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