Splendour and Misery of Colour
2012

Almost every year since 2007, I have returned to the same factories where I first worked 20 years ago. Bright colours, typical of that amazing country, thrive in these unknown places – they are the pride of India. However, behind the colours of drealms, they are also nightmares.

20 years ago, I worked mostly outside, photographing the splendour of cascading colourful fabrics, drying in the open air. These days, having visited the factories many times, the place has become more familiar to me. With the help of local friends, I was able to access to these plants indoors and witnessed the arduous working conditions and appalling pollution that the workers had to endure. While photographing beauty, I discovered horror. It was a striking contrast – a fascinating tragedy.

Textile cities of Rajasthan appear as a microcosm of what threatens us everywhere on the planet nowadays. We have created wonderful things but, at the same time, we do not consider the dangers generated by uncontrolled development. “Splendour and Misery of Colour” was documented in India, but it is also the story about our whole planet, threatened by the greed of growth and profit at any cost.