"The First Occupant" by Arshdeep Singh, ,

The building architects design revolves around clients and experiences the built space offers. But the First Occupants of any building are the Laborers who make any barren land habitable and are the first ones to call that land a home or a workplace. The title tries to focus on those hardworking and often exploited laborers who spend up to a decade nurturing a building.

The photograph is taken in New Chandigarh, India an extension of the Le Corbusier designed masterpiece Chandigarh. These migrant workers and laborers who come looking for work far from their homes, sometimes hundreds of kilometers away from their native states, were left on their own when the pandemic hit. They experienced hardships while traveling back to their homes on foot or bicycles are now finally returning to resume work on their second homes. This picture tries to portray them as the Heroes they are.