Sand and Silt
Dhangmari Bangladesh has become highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change but the community continues to keep local climate solutions. Stilted homes are constructed to elevate above the saline filled waters, in order to withstand from the rising tides, river erosion, and flooding. This is only one innovative solution that has helped this community adapt to these environmental changes. However, each year many of these homes are damaged or destroyed during peak cyclone season. Storms and rising tides have only become more intense over the years, leaving Dhangmari in a state of constant rebuilding and adaption. There is a a current estimate of 5 million people who live on sand and silt in Bangladesh, enduring this state of vulnerability.
Sha Jaman Khan (Popul), his captain, and guard, float through the mangroves, off a channel that diverts from the Pashur river in Bangladesh. The moonlight and the company of fireflies light up the night sky.
A young boy walks along a silty polder in Dhangmari, Bangladesh. Polders are encircled embankments, created in flood-prone areas to mitigate flooding in these Sunderban communities.
A stilted home in Dhangmari Bangladesh.
Momema Beguma cleans out a kolosh full of fish from the silty Pashur River on May 22, 2024. Beguma is an 85 year old prostitute in Dhangmari Village, Bangladesh, making about 50 Bangladeshi Taka daily, which is equivalent to 0.43 United States Dollars. Beguma has done this work for the past 15 years, after her husband died of sickness. She lives with her son and her grandson in a stilted home, which has had to be rebuilt 10 times due to flooding and river erosion.
The village of Dhangmari, Bangladesh, a small shrimping community.
The men living inside of a small fishing community prepare to begin otter fishing, in a small channel off of the Pashur River. Meanwhile, women clean freshly caught fish from their husbands and brothers for their next meal. They use the rough cement to descale and clean the scales.
A women descales small fish that her husband caught on the concrete boat ramp, by rubbing them on the rough surface.
Men and small boys work on wooden boats on the shoreline near the port of Khulna, only hours before Cyclone Remal will pass through the city.
Ankle deep in silt, Falguni Manda shrimps for hours along the Pashur River in Dhangmari, Bangladesh. Dangmari is known for its increasingly saline water and silty shores, yet it continues to foster a small shrimping community. These shores are also home to many crocodiles, making the work extremely dangerous. However, Manda’s entire family and the rest of the community must fish and shrimp for hours each day to feed their families and earn a small profit.
A group of villagers swim to beat the extreme heat due to the lack of access to air conditioning.
Boatmen steer a wooden dingi towards the Bay of Bengal, under the setting sun.