Tannery Worker in Fez Copper Light

Late summer rain has washed the cobblestones of the old quarter in Fez, leaving the stone slick and dark. Copper-toned light from the clearing sky spills over the tannery, illuminating the wet leather hides hanging in rows. A worker stands at the edge of the frame, hands submerged in a stone vat filled with dark dye. Water drips from the hem of his trousers onto the slick ground. The air holds the sheen of a storm that just passed, reflecting the warm glow on the rough stone walls. Behind him, the stacked vats rise in layers of earth tones against the fading blue of the evening sky. one drop of dye falls from a leather strip, striking the wet stone with a dark splash.