Cobbler Stitching Slipper at Salta Flower Auction

Indigo twilight washes over the rough wooden workbench where a cobbler works a leather slipper stretched tight on a wooden last. Sodium-vapor lamps cast a warm, yellow-orange glow that sharpens the grain of the worn bench and highlights the taut thread pulling through the thick hide. Behind the focused hands, blurred shapes of auction crates suggest the nearby flower market, while dramatic, heavy clouds press low against the darkening sky. The leather shows creases from use, against the smooth, varnished wood of the last. One metal awl rests in the cobbler's palm, its tip gleaming under the electric light.