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| 1. |  | Khaled Hasan 2008, 15 January This industry is harmful to the environment; it is harmful for the health of workers, creates air pollution, sound pollution, and is destructive to the landscape, amongst other things. This broken stone represents the dire situation. [Living Stone] Black and white image Provided by the artist - Khaled Hasan |
| 2. |  | Khaled Hasan 2007, 27 October Alfaj Hossain is a stone collector living in Banglabazar, two and a half kilometers from Jaflong. [Living Stone] Black and white image Provided by the artist - Khaled Hasan He either walks or takes a boat ride from his home to work. Everyday he collects three boats full of stones and sales 150 taka ($ 2.17) per boat. |
| 3. |  | Khaled Hasan 2007, 27 October Uses of modern machineries like cranes have caused stones to become extinct in some places in Piyain. [Living Stone] Black and white image Provided by the artist - Khaled Hasan For this reason the stone collectors have to work hard, every night with their boats they travel upstream to collect stones and dock it on the banks ready for supply. |
| 4. |  | Khaled Hasan 2008, 15 January Probad Das (age 67) and Priti Rani Das (age 39) are couple working together as stone laborers. [Living Stone] Black and white image Provided by the artist - Khaled Hasan They are working here for four years. They have two daughters. They used to earn 400 taka ($ 5.79) per day before. But now each of them earns 150 taka ($ 2.17) per day. Some day they only get 80 taka ($ 1.15) for their work. |
| 5. |  | Khaled Hasan 2009, 20 November During the winter season Piyain River becomes dry. [Living Stone] Black and white image Provided by the artist - Khaled Hasan In that time, most of the owners of Stone collector grab the River area and start digging the riverbed by uncontrolled way which creates a bad effect in natural imbalance of the ecosystem. |
| 6. |  | Khaled Hasan 2008, 7 April Working for their living, Abbas Ali, Mohammad Shah Alam, Saifur Rahman, Liakot Ali are stone collectors here for about 5 years. [Living Stone] Black and white image Provided by the artist - Khaled Hasan They extract stone by pulling from Piyain River in Jaflong, Sylhet, Bangladesh. |
| 7. |  | Khaled Hasan 2007, 27 October Stone collectors washing stones along Piyain River in Jaflong, Sylhet, Bangladesh. [Living Stone] Black and white image Provided by the artist - Khaled Hasan More than 2000 men, women and children are engaged in the stone crushing industry along the river bank. |
| 8. |  | Khaled Hasan 2009, 21 November This is one trade which has a geological limit. [Living Stone] Black and white image Provided by the artist - Khaled Hasan The stones that tumble down the riverbed from India are decreasing in volume, and the labourers are already taking the risk of invading the no-man's land in the Indo-Bangla border. More than 5000 men, women and children stone-laborers are engaged here. |
| 9. |  | Khaled Hasan 2008, 18 January Rajiv Das (age 42) is working at stone crasher machine. [Living Stone] Black and white image Provided by the artist - Khaled Hasan His job is to remove the byproduct of stone dust. He realizes that this work is hazardous, as one breathes the dust while working here. Many workers like Rajib Das doing the same duty. |
| 10. |  | Khaled Hasan 2008, 18 January Kalam Ali (age 26) has been working at a stone crushing machine for last 4 years. [Living Stone] Black and white image Provided by the artist - Khaled Hasan He knows there are many risk in stone crashing. He covers his face using his Gamchha (local weaved cloth), as an attempted safety measure from breathing in dust particles. |
| 11. |  | Khaled Hasan 2008, 16 January Babul (age 32), Faruk (age 35), Manik (age 29) and Joinal (age 31) are loading a truck with broken down stone chips. [Living Stone] Black and white image Provided by the artist - Khaled Hasan These are transported to the city, to be used at multistoried construction sites. They are also used for building roads and highways in different areas of Bangladesh. |
| 12. |  | Khaled Hasan 2008, 13 January Stone collector Abu Bakkar bathing at the bank of Piyain river after finishing his work. [Living Stone] Black and white image Provided by the artist - Khaled Hasan |
| 13. |  | Khaled Hasan 2009, 25 October The Stone laborers of Jaflong are facing a major drinking-water crisis. [Living Stone] Black and white image Provided by the artist - Khaled Hasan An environmental health disaster is unfolding here. Many people are drinking ground water with arsenic concentrations far above acceptable levels. The origin of the arsenic pollution is geological in this case - the arsenic is released to groundwater under naturally occurring aquifer conditions. The water supply in the rivers in Jaflong bas been reduced and the subsoil water level has subsided drastically. This has seriously affected the agricultural production and may lead to a major food crisis in this overpopulated area. It also leads to an ecological imbalance with long-term consequences. |
| 14. |  | Khaled Hasan 2009, 6 January Utilization of modern machinery like cranes has taken over the use of primitive tools. [Living Stone] Black and white image Provided by the artist - Khaled Hasan |
| 15. |  | Khaled Hasan 2008, 13 June Kobir Das (age 68) is a manual worker of stone. His village is in Dhirai. He is been working here for 10 years. [Living Stone] Black and white image Provided by the artist - Khaled Hasan He is a father of four sons and four daughters, but they do not take care of him. Therefore he still has to earn his own living. Earlier he used to earn 600 taka ($ 8.69) everyday. But now he earns 80 taka ($ 1.16) to 120 taka ($ 1.74) because there are many cranes being used. He fears of losing his job in the coming years. |
| 16. |  | Khaled Hasan 2009, 29 October Local People said a vast area of Jaflong had been under the control of land grabbers for the last two decades. [Living Stone] Black and white image Provided by the artist - Khaled Hasan The land grabbers occupied government khas land and reserved forestland and extracted stone by cutting small hills polluting the environment of Jaflong. |
| 17. |  | Khaled Hasan 2008, 6 July Uncontrolled stone-crushing at Jaflong, is posing a serious threat to environment, public health and agriculture. [Living Stone] Black and white image Provided by the artist - Khaled Hasan Experts apprehend that the arable lands at this area will lose productivity to a large extent and biodiversity will face severe threat in near future if the government does not impose restriction on indiscriminate stone-crushing. |
| 18. |  | Khaled Hasan 2009, 21 November Living situation of Stone laborers in Jaflong area. [Living Stone] Black and white image Provided by the artist - Khaled Hasan They earn a little amount 120 taka ($ 1.71) per day for their living. The parents are not able to give a well provision for their children. |
| 19. |  | Khaled Hasan 2006, 7 October Not living in a normal condition. From their childhood they grow in between the stones and learn the hardship of life. [Living Stone] Black and white image Provided by the artist - Khaled Hasan |
| 20. |  | Khaled Hasan 2009, 18 February Piyain River is dry during winter, where for decades uncontrolled and hazardous stone extraction is going on. [Living Stone] Black and white image Provided by the artist - Khaled Hasan |
| 21. |  | Khaled Hasan 2008, 20 January Many children are utilized in collecting stones. [Living Stone] Black and white image Provided by the artist - Khaled Hasan This boy is collecting stones and a bucket of stone chips which will pay him 5 taka ($ 0.071) at the end of the day. |
| 22. |  | Khaled Hasan 2008, 16 January Rajia Begum (age 48), a hard working stone labour. She is on her midday break, using the time to get some rest before she starts again. [Living Stone] Black and white image Provided by the artist - Khaled Hasan |
| 23. |  | Khaled Hasan 2008, 19 January Along the utilization of modern machinery the women labourers work as hard as men do in this industry. [Living Stone] Black and white image Provided by the artist - Khaled Hasan |
| 24. |  | Khaled Hasan 2008, 16 January Shapna (age 13) works as a stone collector. Sometime she does not work because of her childish pranks. She is not old enough for the work. Between working times, she travels by her brother's boat for fun. [Living Stone] Black and white image Provided by the artist - Khaled Hasan |
| 25. |  | Khaled Hasan 2008, 15 January Women from Hindu community grinding rice for making cakes on 'Paus Shankranti' festival at the end of Bangle month "Paus". Hindu Stone workers do not go to work at that day. [Living Stone] Black and white image Provided by the artist - Khaled Hasan |
| 26. |  | Khaled Hasan 2008, 15 January Alya Begum, a stone crasher and mother of two children could not go to work because of illness. But without her wages she does not have money to buy food and medicine. Because there is no sick leave in this Stone Industry. [Living Stone] Black and white image Provided by the artist - Khaled Hasan |
| 27. |  | Khaled Hasan 2009, 7 January After finishing their work, some women laborers came back to their home at sunset. Women labourers are engaged more because their labors is less paid then men. [Living Stone] Black and white image Provided by the artist - Khaled Hasan |
| 28. |  | Khaled Hasan 2008, 16 January Sufia Khatun (age 43) is working at a stone crasher machine, putting large stones into it. Sometimes she works through the night. This is hard work and she puts in as many hours as she can, without any "overtime" payment. [Living Stone] Black and white image Provided by the artist - Khaled Hasan |
| 29. |  | Khaled Hasan 2008, 14 January Man and machine unites working day and night, to spin the life circle of the industry. Though there is light on the machines, but there is no emotion. On the other hand there is emotion in the labourers but a constant darkness is taking over their life. [Living Stone] Black and white image Provided by the artist - Khaled Hasan |