This photographic series traces the lives and labour of the women seaweed farmers along the coast of Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu which is one of India’s primary regions for seaweed cultivation. Through long rides into remote villages and walks through beachside groves, I was led to a quiet ecosystem where women work in harmony with the ocean.
Initiated decades ago by multinational corporations, seaweed farming has since been reclaimed by the local fisherwomen as a vital means of livelihood. Today, this work is done almost exclusively by women, who have mastered the knowledge of the tides, seasonal shifts, marine ecology, and farming techniques. The ocean becomes both workspace and sanctuary. Dressed in sarees, their hands calloused and tattooed with ocean motifs, each morning, before stepping into the sea, the women offer a quiet prayer by splashing seawater on their foreheads as a gesture of respect to the ocean that sustains them.

Their routines are embedded with expertise: constructing bamboo frames, carefully tying stringed seaweed rows, protecting the crops from marine grazers, and drying the harvest on the sun-drenched beaches. Yet their work remains precarious. Entire yields can be lost overnight to the force of a single storm.
This series is not only a documentation of their fortitude and oceanic intimacy, but also an act of reframing. These women are not passive subjects of rural labour. They are agents of environmental knowledge, sisterhood, and self-sustained livelihood. Their stories ripple with unspoken traditions, shared strength, and daily negotiations with a changing climate.
Their presence in the frame is an assertion of visibility of being seen on their own terms. Through this ongoing project, I aim to both honour their narratives and bring attention to their call for greater access to protective gear and resources that would safeguard their health and economic stability.

The ocean is their place of work, play, prayer, and power and it goes home with them, as sand in their feet.

In addition to documenting their stories, I am also working directly with the community to help provide protective gloves, drinking water, and basic equipment to support their daily lives.