VOL. 2 ISSUE 7
NOVEMBER 2026
Photograph Ingeborg Colijn
Inge Colijn took up photography as a teenager. Later, as a student of Cultural Anthropology she took a course in Ethnographic Photography. While working for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Inge always carried a camera with her in the field, but photography was more of an afterthought to her main job. After retiring from UNHCR Inge enrolled in photography workshops and got excited about street photography. She is part of a group of street photographers who regularly travel together.
THE BRICKFIELDS OF DHAKA
The catastrophic air pollution in Dhaka and the damaged topsoil in the surrounding agricultural lands is mainly due to the presence of brick factories. In 2019 the government started destroying many of the illegal facilities which, followed by a slowdown in production during the pandemic, resulted in an improvement in air quality. Not for long however, when I was in Dhaka in December 2023 most brick factories in the Narayanganj area were up and running again.
The work normally takes place during the dry season from November to March. During the rest of the year many of these workers are unemployed and desperate. The conditions of work are dangerous and hard.
The rapidly growing capital city of Bangladesh, Dhaka, is in ever need of building material for the construction of houses, shops, offices and schools. As a result brickfields with thousands of chimneys coughing up black smoke can be found in the outskirts of Dhaka. The traditional brick kilns are coal or wood fired and produce millions of cheap bricks. All the work is carried out by poorly paid workers, often migrants from the countryside. They live in makeshift accommodation arrayed around the kilns.
Photograph Ingeborg Colijn
The raw material needed for the bricks is clay, which is plentiful in the alluvial plains of the Buriganga river. On the perimeter of the fields workers dig out the mud and mix it with water and some chalk to produce a thick clay which is then transported by wheelbarrow to an empty field.
MORE COMMENTARY FROM THE NOVEMBER ISSUE
The Brickfields of Dhaka
Inge Colijn. A photo-essay and commentary on endurance and the struggle for a dignified living among Bangladesh’s brick kilns.
Poet of Honour: Ian Duhig
A selection of poems where Yogesh Patel honours Ian Duhig for his style, use of motifs from folklore, and for his contribution to English literature.
Letter to America: We Need Social Democracy
A political essay by Dave Blazer advocating structural social-democratic reform and robust public institutions in the United States.
Western Collateral Damage in Ukraine
Richard Steinhardt. A radical critique of the attempt of Western asset acquisition in Ukraine and the precipitant financialisation of Ukrainian assets
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