The steam rising off machines. The sweat beading on workers’ skin. The tight, cramped quarters where rickety fans lose the battle with heat. An Associated Press team consisting of Climate reporter Sibi Arasu, photojournalist Ajit Solanki and video journalist Piyush Nagpal expertly and sensitively captured these stifling conditions inside Indian textile factories, negotiating uncommon access to report on the challenging conditions workers face.
Surat’s textile factory owners are wary of showing these conditions, believing that critical coverage will lead their international clients to cancel orders. But the team of Arasu, Solanki and Nagpal swayed the managers and owners of two factories with a solutions-oriented approach: Yes, they’d be reporting on difficult working conditions, but they would also show how factories keep workers cool, and that the AP’s vast reach would bring attention to heat-related issues that could help factory owners discuss solutions with government officials.
After securing that access, the team members maintained that tenacity to deliver compelling material, while working in the challenging conditions. To document the workers’ difficulties, the trio spent an extended amount of time on the factory floor in heat that exceeded high outdoor temperatures because of the hot machinery. In video and text, workers said that the heat makes them feel dizzy, but they must keep working to support their families financially.
The package earned praise from top AP managers, but also from an outside scholar who has helped shape India’s local and national heat response plans. The scholar noted how the story captured the intersection of extreme weather and the realities factory workers endure.
The judges were impressed by the team’s ability to negotiate that access and get factory workers and managers alike on the record. The photos and video were indelibly visceral, immersing viewers in the intensity of the hot conditions.
For compelling, intrepid and humanizing work that highlights AP’s global footprint, Arasu, Solanki and Nagpal are this week’s Best of the Week – First Winner.
