I made several photographic documentaries about oriental rug making in Tibet, Nepal, Pakistan and India. Producing oriental rugs is an extremely labor intensive process. For high quality rugs, the weaving alone can take over a year for one rug: usually the weaving is done in the weaver’s home where the loom takes over most of the living space. After the rug is woven, there is a whole process of shearing, washing, blocking, and finishing. Each one of these steps usually takes place at a different location than where the rug was woven.
The image below was made at a rug washing location in Mirzapur, India. For most of my documentary work, I used a Hasselblad; however, I often carried a Graflex Super D with me. It’s a 4×5 hand held camera. I had an old Dallmeyer Pentac speed lens mounted on it. It’s kind of a one trick pony: it renders extremely soft focus images with amazing bokeh (the swirling highlights).
More examples of my work with my Super D can be viewed by clicking on the “Phatsotfocus” tab.
Rug Washer
