Chouara Tannery — Marrakech Leather Pits

Description

The Chouara tannery in Fez el-Bali — operational since the 11th century — is the world’s most photographed working tannery, its coloured vat system visible from the leather shop terraces surrounding it. The tanning process uses a sequence of vats: white quicklime for hair removal, pigeon dung (high in ammonia) for softening, and then the dyeing vats filled with natural pigments — saffron for yellow, poppy for red, indigo for blue, henna for orange. Each vat is approximately 2 metres in diameter. Workers (dabbagha) stand chest-deep in the vats, treading and manipulating the hides in a physically demanding process that has changed minimally over the past 900 years. This photograph was made from the highest terrace level at midday — when the sun illuminates all vat colours simultaneously — using a telephoto lens to flatten the vat geometry and maximise colour density.