weaver

But this has not necessarily meant better wages for the weavers.

From quarry workers to weavers, welders to tailors, the pictures highlight the diverse, backbreaking work undertaken by the estimated 400 million labourers in India.

The influx was such that a huge part of London's East End became known as "weaver town" as it transformed into a centre for the trade, led by migrants from across the English Channel.

As a former production weaver who churned out a line of unisex sweaters she sold through the American Craft Council, Schwartzenberger understands the meditative qualities of weaving.

His father was a shawl weaver and his mother was a cotton winder.