Review of Tamarian’s new book ‘Beyond the Loom’

Beyond the Loom is a new book produced by Tamarian’s Ryan Higgins with the Nepalese photo journalist Narendra Shrestha. Rachel Meek considers how it acts as a window into the lives of weavers in Kathmandu

Last year, Tamarian Principal, Ryan Higgins commissioned the Nepalese photo journalist Narendra Shrestha to take some marketing photographs to use on his company website. But when he saw how well the images captured the people involved in the weaving process, he chose to publish them in a book entitled Beyond the Loom. The decision to leave the company’s branding out of the publication speaks of the real intention behind the project; All of the shots were captured at Tamarian’s partner company’s facilities in Kathmandu.

‘Ultimately, I wanted to show the life of a rug; it’s not just a thing that weaves itself’ says Higgins, who first visited Nepal in 1999. ‘It takes people and the people come from somewhere and they have people that are connected to their lives and I wanted to show that. I did think that rugs would be more visible, but in the end, I’m super happy that there are less rugs and more people because that’s what I think is interesting. It far exceeded what we hoped for. It is marketing, but it’s better than marketing. I’ve had a good response from our clients because essentially, it doesn’t matter the manufacturer or even if a rug was made in Nepal; They can use this book in their showrooms to demonstrate the rug making process and how much human life is involved in that. That is the value of these objects. That is the value of Label STEP.’

Reto Aschwanden, Managing Director of Label STEP—the non-profit organisation committed to fair trade and the wellbeing of workers in the handmade carpet industry, with which Tamarian is a Partner—wrote the Foreword. He recalls how, upon meeting Higgins in 2012, he challenged him to point out how STEP’s work impacts situations on the ground and benefits artisans and their communities directly. He goes on to write how Beyond the Loom ‘depicts the challenging work and the joy, commitment, dedication, and pride that go into the making of each handwoven rug. It shows the many skilled hands, inventive minds, and passionate faces who keep artisanal weaving going in the modern world. It is a portrait of a community of people who work, study, play, and live together… I love how Narendra’s photos express a profound familiarity and closeness with his country’s people and culture while at the same time keeping the curious eye of a first-time visitor… The book feels honest, true, and poetic at the same time.’

The sensation of having been granted immediate insight to the featured people’s lives stems from a special snapshot effect resulting from the fact that all the images were taken in just eight days during the monsoon season in July 2023. ‘It was important that we captured a moment in time’ Higgins says. Rather than cherry picking photos from different seasons, the book encapsulates a very specific period in the generations-old Nepali weaving tradition, providing an uncanny glimpse into everyday life, almost as if one were visiting the area around the Boudhanath Stupa—the monument which bookends the book’s contents—in real life. ‘There’s a real mood’ Higgins says of the photographic series. ‘I think that the grey skies during monsoon really bring out colour and texture and pattern. You get to see this other kind of richness of life that is different from what you get when there’s blue skies and sunshine. Narendra’s images speak so clearly. He’s not setting up images. He’s capturing moments in time. There’s a constant exchange. You can see trust and familiarity there.’