Dye Pots Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

Leather dyeing is still one of the major industries of Fes (Fez). The dye pots stink (urine is a major component of the tanning process), so they are kept our here in one corner of the medina, and the workers are among the poorest in the city.

Technical: Noiseware reduction (the D70 is too noisy). I am not sure how I came to shoot this at 1/5000, but I had been taking some interior pictures just before this one (we were in a building, about 5 stories up) and may not have thought to change the aperture.

avene, zmey, burzum has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

avene (10982) 2008-05-09 11:37

hello Dan,
yes, this is exactly how I remember the chaotic of the tannery and dense city in the background. the white walls of the buildings nicely illustrate the heat of the sunshine, while the dirty brown of the pots go well with the story about the componend of the tanning process :) our guide was kind enough to get a bunch of fresh mint for us to smell while in the tanneries. not that it helped too much.

with best regards,
Kristine

zmey (7250) 2008-05-10 6:17

hello daniel

yes, this is the nice part of the tanneries (visually): all the dye pots laid out nicely against the backdrop of the city. but you surely remember the slippery, dark stairways within the tannery with the 'stuff' forming rivers all over the place. the stench, i think, is not only due to the urine but also to the fact that the skins are being cleaned right there and the protein rich remains are rotting all over the place...

warm regards,
kristaps

ps. i agree with kristine, the mint did not help much. :)

cepekdong (3668) 2008-05-10 7:04

i was there as well, its an interesting place

daniel

burzum (998) 2008-05-12 8:55

hi Daniel,
everyone who has commented so far seems to have been in that place so they understand your photo much better than I do, but I guess it's ok to say that the photo works fine with me also.the wide angle perspective gives me a very good idea about the area and the note/critiques I read are most helpful.
regards,
kostas