Manufacturing leather from hides is one of the oldest and earliest ‘automated’ processes of the industrial age. Since the end of World War II, these factories have all but died out in the Europe and the US for a number of reasons, including environment ones. Each man at the ‘traditional factory’ learns many skills so that he can perform all the steps from start to finish.

I am grateful for being allowed to photograph the leather factory and to follow the workers throughout their day recording it. These images range from the messy start until the final messy cleanup.

Cyanotype printing on rice paper was chosen because the coarseness and tactical quality remind me of the feel of the leather factory.