The Artisans
These are the people at the looms — photographed where they work, named, and known to our family through two generations of the silk trade. Their fuller stories are being written with them.
At his handloom, a maroon-and-gold saree on the warp.
At the loom — his weaving is the first film below.
At the winding wheel, preparing silk for the shuttle — her winding work is the second film below.
At his handloom, a gold-tissue warp in progress — his weaving is the third and fourth films below.
At his handloom, master weaver Annam Chowdaiah guides the shuttle through the warp with practiced patience. It is slow, deliberate work — the same unhurried rhythm that has always defined a handloom saree.
At The Loom
Vanam Raghava at his handloom — phone footage from the shed itself, with the sound of the loom left in. Twenty-four seconds of the real thing.
Lakshmi at the winding wheel, preparing silk for the shuttle — phone footage from the shed itself, with the sound of the wheel left in. Thirty-seven seconds of the real thing.
Saidam Sreenivasulu at his handloom — phone footage from the shed itself, with the sound of the loom left in. Just under three minutes at the loom.
Saidam Sreenivasulu, another passage at the loom — more phone footage from the shed, the same steady rhythm of the shuttle. Just under two minutes more with the warp.