How Much Do Ear Cleaners, Street Astrologers, and Other Representatives of Endangered Professions Earn in India (24 photos)

Photographer Supranav Dash was born in Calcutta but studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York. For his graduation project, he returned to his homeland and captured the disappearing professions and castes of India. Such exotic trades as street astrologers, ear cleaners, hand mill makers, and rickshaw pullers still exist there. These photographs are particularly interesting because Supranav indicated the incomes of his subjects, which are not always predictable.







Street Astrologer - $50 a week

Rickshaw - $12 a week per week



Ear Cleaner and Perfumer - $28 per week



Potter - $25 per week



Street Printer - $12.50 per week



Knife Sharpener - $40 dollars per week



Priests in the Temple of the Goddess Kali - $20 per week



Street vendor of oil cans - $21 per week



Hand mill maker - $50 per week per week



Tea Stall Owner - $210 per week



Festival Drummer - $25 per week



Cook and Caterer - $60 per week



Brahmin - $20 dollars per week



Boy musicians in a hired orchestra - $6 per week



Basket seller - $10 per week



Street barber - $26 per week week



Broom maker/seller - $20 per week



Sugarcane juice seller - $24 per week



Reed mat and basket maker/seller - $15 per week week



Puppeteer - $15 per week



Flower seller for the worship of the gods - $30 per month



Mason's apprentice - $12.50 per week



Butcher - $14 per week

Now, thanks to this series of photos, you know that one of the most lucrative disappearing professions is street astrologer (charlatans have no karma), and the most lucrative job on the streets of Calcutta is being a tea stall owner—with his $210 a week, he earns almost as much as twenty rickshaw drivers or mason's apprentices.