artist
Masashi Mitsui
Washing cotton threads
The work at a dye factory begins at five in the morning. First, cotton threads that have been pre-soaked in detergent the previous day are thoroughly stomped on to be washed, and then squeezed. They are then soaked in dyestuffs that have been boiled over wood fires. By the time the work is complete, it is five in the afternoon. Depending on the shift, workers can be on the job for as long as 10 hours at a time. The daily salary is 600 rupees (about nine dollars), a sum considerably higher than what the average manual worker would earn in India.
(Tamil Nadu, India 2018)