Fallen Stars by Mohammad Shahnewaz Khan, initiated around 2010, documents child labor across Bangladesh and India. As his first long-term documentary endeavor, Khan began the project at a moment of personal uncertainty, calling himself a "wayward wanderer" whose life then lacked clear purpose. Despite warnings from peers that the subject was overexposed, he pursued it out of conviction that photography can reveal uncomfortable truths and, in doing so, contribute to societal change.
Set against entrenched poverty, broken education systems, and climate-driven displacement, Fallen Stars examines the structural forces that lead children into dangerous work. Khan’s images place the everyday struggles of working children in dialogue with the principles outlined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Using black-and-white photography, Khan highlights the harsh environments where the children work—dusty brickfields, gleaming metal factories, and the dim glow of fires during night shifts. He balances wide shots of industrial environments with intimate portraits, as well as candid moments—children pausing to play, rest, or reflect—that reveal small but telling forms of resilience. The overall tone oscillates between the stark and the tender, echoing Khan's intent to portray hardship without stripping his subjects of agency or dignity.
Recognized by institutions like UNICEF, Fallen Stars is now referenced as a notable contribution to contemporary documentary photography about child labor and the broader social, economic, and environmental factors that sustain it.
