Book Review: “All That Glitters” by Joel Carter
Around the corner from Santosh Mitra Square is one of the cleanest lanes in Kolkata I’ve ever seen. It’s 7am on a cool, winter morning in Eastern India. Daily tinkering has commenced within a looming residential building, likely standing solid for more than a century. The workshop sounds are distinctly muffled compared to the stark clanging of a nearby temple bell. From the balcony where I stand, a man inches along the alleyway below–squatting with a short stick broom in one hand and a soft dusting brush in the other– meticulously scouring every crevice. He’s searching for gold.
I’m staying in the empty home of Joel Carter, a New Zealand photographer of Ngati Awa descent who is overseas preparing for the birth of his second daughter. I’ve just pored through his latest photo book, All that Glitters (2022). Eighty pages of monochromatic film images (on 35mm and 120 Ilford) reveal the life cycle of a gold industry forged, quite literally, beneath his feet. In sparse captions of text that supports the framework of his visual narrative, Carter observes that his sewage pipes run through the cramped workshops below, with ceilings so low the karigars cannot stand fully upright. I hold my breath while passing the workers’ common toilet at the entrance to Carter’s stairwell, else a thick odor settles on my tongue.
All that glitters isn’t gold.
The realities of crafting a living from an illustrious medium are at the forefront of Carter’s project. The people he documents are neighbors who candidly share their stories of economic struggle, isolation, and even a scandalous embezzlement plan when nearly sixty thousand dollars got stuffed into an abandoned cavity of the building. (Spoiler Alert: I found it remarkable the alleged embezzler now operates his own shop, casually just around the corner.) Carter explores additional links along the chain: jewelry shops, gold loans, street dusters, textile collectors who chance for a few flecks of gold from soiled clothing, and even the women who adorn themselves with these handcrafted pieces.
Robert Frank’s, The Americans, was an inspiration when it came to the book’s layout and design. You can see this influence through thoughtful sequencing as paired visuals work together to forge new meaning. The image of an exotic pet bird becomes a metaphor for a gilded cage when placed within a sequence of images of a woman wearing gold jewelry, seemingly perched within a small room.
For transparency, I sat with Carter after he developed his first roll of film and again as final edits and sequencing came together (you’ll find my name in the credits, though I offered minimal, unpaid support). What I’ve seen as a unique strength to this project from the start is the depth of subtle details: nuances derived from Carter mining a story intimately close to home. He doesn’t shirk the complexities of class struggle, nor does he fetishize them. I secretly interpreted Carter exploring his own personal place within this story through a single image; one where his toddler stands near an open curtain, grasping onto barred windows and observing the environment below. Here, the photographer sees both within and beyond. For more information or to order a copy of All That Glitters, find Joel Carter on Instagram or send him an email!
“All That Glitters” by Joel Carter
Photographs and Text: Joel Carter
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 80
Dimensions: 16 x 22 cm
Printer: CDC Printers (Kolkata, WB, India)
Self Published: 2022
Edition: Open
Available for purchase via email: joelcarter1993@gmail.com
Click Here to Email Joel!
Click Here to Email Joel!
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Amy Parrish is an American artist and writer living in Shantiniketan, WB, India. Her visual art has been featured on NPR, recognized in international photo festivals, and has received accolades such as the Julia Margaret Cameron Award. She ran ground operations for anti-trafficking photo programs in Northern Thailand and India and her commercial practice was filmed for two seasons of Photovision. Her writing can be found in a variety of publications, including LensCulture where she also reviewed hundreds of portfolios for contemporary photographers around the globe.
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