Preston Merchant Archive

  • Portfolio
  • About
  • Contact
  • Archive
    • All Galleries
    • Search
    • Cart
    • Lightbox
    • Client Area
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
x

Search Results

Refine Search
Match all words
Match any word
Prints
Personal Use
Royalty-Free
Rights-Managed
(leave unchecked to
search all images)
13 images found
twitterlinkedinfacebook

Loading ()...

  • Kawakawa, near Labasa, Fiji: Sudhesh Lal, field officer for the Fiji Sugar Corporation, makes the morning rounds, meeting the sirdars -- the overseers of the cane gangs -- to announce the daily quota of cane each gang may sell to the mill, to record the serial numbers of the cane trucks so that the gangs may be properly credited, and to issue forms so that the gangs can order more supplies from the mill
    indiaworld-4214-merchant.jpg
  • Wailea Settlment, Near Suva, Fiji | 2011<br />
Sambhu Lal, 69, worked for thirty-three years at the Labasa sugar mill while his family cut sugar cane. Their land lease expired in 2004 and was not renewed, forcing them to move to the outskirts of Suva, where his son now works in a sawmill. He transported his house by truck and boat from Labasa and reassembled it on leased land in a squatter settlement popular with displaced cane farmers.
    indiaworld-3434-merchant.jpg
  • Labasa, Fiji: A worker at the Labasa sugar mill monitors the progress of the cane juice as it is crystallized into raw sugar
    indiaworld-5487-merchant.jpg
  • Kawakawa, near Labasa, Fiji | 2011<br />
Descendants of indentured laborers who came from India in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Roop Narayan and Basant Kumar cut sugar cane as members of Gang 12 of the Labasa Mill. Colonial-era laws prevent Indo-Fijians from owning land, so they must lease their holdings from native Fijian landlords and work as tenant farmers.
    indiaworld-3693-merchant.jpg
  • Wailea Settlement, Suva, Fiji: Sambhu Lal, 69, worked for thirty-three years at the Labasa sugar mill, while his family cut sugarcane. Their lease expired in 2004 and was not renewed, forcing them to move to Suva, where his son now works in a sawmill. He brought his house from Labasa to Suva and reassembled it on leased land in a slum area popular with displaced farmers
    LastIndianCaneCuttersofFiji-3434-201...tif
  • Kawakawa, near Labasa, Fiji. Roop Narayan, Suresh Singh, Sanju Prasad, and Sachin Kumar take an afternoon break from cane cutting to drink grog, which is crushed yaqoni root mixed with water. The result is a muddy, non-narcotic liquid with sedative properties
    indiaworld-4957-merchant.jpg
  • Kawakawa, near Labasa, Fiji: On weekends, Roneel Narayan helps his father and the other members of Gang 12 by clearing the brush so that the cane trucks can be loaded and moved. Currently in the seventh grade, he says he wants to attend the University of the South Pacific in Suva to study "whatever my parents can afford"
    indiaworld-6281-merchant.jpg
  • Kawakawa, near Labasa, Fiji: Bansi Lal, 69, is the tractor driver for Gang 12, responsible for taking the loaded cane trucks to the tracks where a locomotive will transport them to the Labasa mill for processing
    indiaworld-5298-merchant.jpg
  • Wailea Settlement, Suva, Fiji: Sambhu Lal, 69, worked for thirty-three years at the Labasa sugar mill, while his family cut sugarcane. Their lease expired in 2004 and was not renewed, forcing them to move to Suva, where his son now works in a sawmill. He brought his house from Labasa to Suva and reassembled it on leased land in a slum area popular with displaced farmers
    indiaworld-3434-merchant.jpg
  • Kawakawa, near Labasa, Fiji: Descendants of indentured laborers who came from India in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Roop Narayan and Basant Kumar cut sugarcane as members of Gang 12. Colonial-era laws prevent Indo-Fijians from owning land, so they must lease their holdings from native Fijian landlords and work as tenant farmers.
    indiaworld-fiji-3693-merchant.jpg
  • Kawakawa, near Labasa, Fiji: Descendants of indentured laborers who came from India in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Roop Narayan and Basant Kumar cut sugarcane as members of Gang 12. Colonial-era laws prevent Indo-Fijians from owning land, so they must lease their holdings from native Fijian landlords and work as tenant farmers.
    indiaworld-3693-merchant.jpg
  • Kawakawa, near Labasa, Fiji: Arvendra Kumar returns home for his wedding and shares an emotional moment with his mother, Premila Wati. Arvendra works in Latoka as a branch manager for an insurance company based in Suva.
    indiaworld-3714-merchant.jpg
  • Woolgoolga, Australia | 2011<br />
Sikhs gather for a wedding at the Guru Nanak Temple. Woolgoolga is home to the largest Sikh community in Australia, many of whom are banana growers. Sikhs took up banana farming in Australia in the 1940s when mechanization came to the sugar cane industry in Queensland, where many of them had worked as laborers. Today, the Sikh community in Woolgoolga is prosperous, having diversified into blueberries, hydroponic vegetables, and other business ventures.
    indiaworld-2406-merchant.jpg