It’s a lovely story. This is Tom Arthus-Bertrand’s, Yann’s son. Here it is with his images. Jean-Jacques Naudet
Bangladesh is the most affected country by erosion and the most densely populated per square kilometer. The population is exhausted. The country is shrinking and living conditions are deteriorating. All the textile techniques prohibited in Europe are practiced there… It’s a disgrace, and we’re responsible for it.
In Bangladesh, there is no travel agency. No one wants to see what’s going on. I saw a dead body on the sidewalk while going out of a school, children playing, working, and living in garbage cans. A dog trying to eat an infant, little fifteen year-old girls in wedding gowns,a never ending traffic, swarms of disease-carrying mosquitos in legions, twenty or so cockroaches in the bathroom in the morning, people stoned to death by the crowd, classes where all the children are sick because of poor water quality, and border walls for crowd control… No, I am not exaggerating! I consider this one of the world’s many dumps. It’s what allows us Westerners to live like we do.
Before leaving for Bangladesh, I borrowed some photographic material from one of my artist friends and promised myself to make a photo project about this trip. The carpet in the background of the photos is an assembly of fabrics recovered from textile factories, and the patchworks sewn onto them are the logos of textile brands produced in the outskirts of the city.
I photographed six-hundred school children from Bangladesh, one by one, to show their happiness and love of life. I wanted to share a joyful image of this country through their eyes, which are not as innocent as they look. They loved to pose in front of the camera, and I was behind it for the first time.
Take a good look at these children. They could be yours. If you knew and lived where they are growing up, you would no longer look at products coming from the textile industry in the same way. Consuming less, but of better quality is, for me, the only direction towards a more harmonious world. Each one of our thoughts, each one of our words, each one of our actions has a global impact. Transforming the world into being more altruistic first begins at home, consciously transforming into the best version of oneself with love and compassion when facing human complexity. Thank you for these gifts. In all cases, life is well worth it.
Tom Arthus-Bertrand
