Love Calcutta Arts
Film

A remarkable story of an honorable woman. Love Calcutta Arts works with women building new lives through textile work and a strong community. Beautiful, careful products, made by hand to give dignity to the women who make them. I created a portrait of the business, got to know the women who make the work, and built up a library of product photos to boost the business.

2025
Film and Editing and Product Photo 
in collaboration with Rahel Lam, Cup of Color and Vine Design Trust

Behind the Scenes

Photo by Rahel Lam

This project deeply shaped me. It was my first time visiting India. I remember the early morning we stepped into the red light district, where the business is based. The smell, the people on the street setting up a market, the rats.

In the making of this film I lived inside the office of Love Calcutta Arts for a full month. I shared the daily life of the women there and got to enjoy their hospitality. In the first week I was amazed by the colorful culture, as a photographer by the light, and of course by the food. But as I spent more time in the community, I realized their reality is far from my own. It's a reality of life and death, of exploitation. At some point I was faced with a deep helplessness. I questioned what I was even doing there. I started to realize that the feeling of powerlessness was rightfully there, and accepting it helped me be at peace with my role. I'm a filmmaker. I can tell stories with my films. So I made this one, about a community that deeply cares for each other.

While Rahel Lam took beautiful photos of the women and their work, I built an improvised studio with what we had on hand to shoot product photos for their catalogue.

I should also mention my main purpose in India was a different documentary, about a Cup of Color project in an elderly home. That's a story for another time. You can watch this film here.

Photo by Rahel Lam