Fez Tannery
Morocco 2009
A laborer wrings out a hide that has been soaking in a red dye. Not many Moroccans have a muscular build like this man. I think his body is a testament to hundreds of hides that have had the dye wrung from them by his hands. I suppose he is paid by the piece. Moroccans consider this a low form of work. But this man is doing his best. Dignity comes with doing your best no matter the task. I learned that from a man who had been in one of the Nazi concentration camps.
The tanneries do have a bad smell, but when you are keen to get some photographs, you don’t notice. They use pigeon manure for the nitrogen contained in it to soften the hides and it stinks. Although the men stand in the vats of solution all day, every day, I noticed no blemishes on their skin. They all looked healthy.