On first name basis
by Swarnali Mitra
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bas-ki dushvār hai har kām kā āsāñ honā
ādmī ko bhī mayassar nahīñ insāñ honā
So hard, the becoming-easy of anything —
even to be human is not granted to all.
— Mirza Ghalib
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This photo story is an attempt to tell the stories of the delivery workers who keep our shared city moving. Often unnoticed, often unacknowledged, often invisible.
Beneath the carrier bags, bikes and helmets, each individual’s story runs along a strikingly similar thread: the desire to build something better, for a family and for oneself. Something that makes the relentless hours, in any weather, worth it. Something all of us might recognise in ourselves.
What isn’t obvious at a glance, though, is that, for many here, this work isn’t one choice among others. It is the only door to a semblance of agency in a society that can deny them the right to work, or the only way they can make ends meet as the cost of living climbs beyond anything they had imagined.
Many of the people in these photographs have given up meaningful work in pursuit of a better life: jobs on factory floors, in offices, in design studios. And yet affording weekly groceries, baby formula and nappies, or even a stroller for a newborn, has become tremendously hard. And because most of them gave up everything to be here, selling their land and possessions, there is very little left to return to.
The artist invites you to look deeper into the reasons behind the decisions made by the person in front of you. Decisions shaped by the histories of empire, migration and inequality. Decisions made under structural forces that were never quite in their control. Decisions underpinned by beliefs now carried across generations.
Perhaps the next time someone carries what you need to your door, you might pause for the human behind the order; tip a little more; and, to begin with, learn their name.
This work was brought to life with the support of the Newham Community Project. Click the link learn more about how they sustain and support hundreds of families every week through their food bank, health and social care work and other community programmes.