When the Rana Plaza garment factory complex in Dhaka, Bangladesh, collapsed on April 24, 2013, more than 1,100 people were killed. Images of the devastation captured the world’s attention and drew focus to conditions within that industry. But, four months later, when Bangladeshi photographer Ismail Ferdous visited New York City for a photojournalism workshop, it seemed like those hundreds of victims had been forgotten.
“Though I really love the city,” he tells TIME, “I [was traumatized] when I saw all the large, fancy store windows lined with sales and discount signs. I couldn’t help but think about the labels I saw in the rubble, the faces of the family members who had lost loved ones and the inhumane working conditions of the garment workers in Bangladesh.”
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