Village Textile Factory
A small village on the Irrawaddy River: Burma 2011
The factory encompassed a small brick building on the banks of the Irrawaddy. It was the only structure of made of brick in the entire village. All the huts, where any other commercial enterprise took place, were made of woven palm fronds. Those huts also served as homes for the families running the enterprises.
The textile factory had six or eight looms, each operated by a girl the age of the one you see here. The boy, maybe sixteen or eighteen years old, standing here with his back turned to the camera was the factory foreman. The boy took his responsibilities seriously. The girls called to him when things went wrong…a broken thread perhaps? He was quick to repair whatever had gone awry and the looms swung into action spilling out multicolored cotton fabric.