Asim Rafiqui

Show Navigation
  • Portfolio
  • About
  • Contact
  • Archive
    • All Galleries
    • Search
    • Cart
    • Lightbox
    • Client Area
All Galleries
Download

SOMO Pakistan Leather

38 images Created 30 Nov 2016

View: 100 | All
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
x

Loading ()...

  • Fresh 'wet blue' leather arrives at the unloading docks. Most of the process of 'wet blue' leather takes place in various facilities in the Punjab, though some smaller local tanneries do produce the material in Karachi. 'Wet blue' is the name given to the raw, unprocessed but prepared animal skins where chromium sulfate and other chromium salts are used. It is more supple and pliable than vegetable-tanned leather and does not discolor or lose shape as drastically in water as vegetable-tanned. It is also known as wet-blue for its color derived from the chromium. More exotic colors are possible when using chrome tanning. The chrome tanning method usually only takes a day to finish, and the ease and agility of this method make it a popular choice. It is reported that chrome-tanned leather adds up to 80% of the global leather supply.
    RAA2016007G081000053.jpg
  • Workers handle the 'wet blue' skins as they arrive at the loading docks. Here men pass the newly arrived leather through a pressing and scraping machine that removes excess materials from the surface of the leather, and smoothens and presses it. <br />
<br />
The skins are split to the correct thickness by being put through a machine such as shown that has knife edge which can accurately split the skin in crosssection.<br />
<br />
Skins are then graded and measured. Measurement of processed skins is done using a special table that hasa computer controlled laser system which can determine the square footage of the particular skin and add the quantity to inventory.<br />
<br />
'Wet blue' is the name given to the raw, unprocessed but prepared animal skins where chromium sulfate and other chromium salts are used. It is more supple and pliable than vegetable-tanned leather and does not discolor or lose shape as drastically in water as vegetable-tanned. It is also known as wet-blue for its color derived from the chromium. More exotic colors are possible when using chrome tanning. The chrome tanning method usually only takes a day to finish, and the ease and agility of this method make it a popular choice. It is reported that chrome-tanned leather adds up to 80% of the global leather supply.
    RAA2016007G081000014.jpg
  • Workers at a drying station. A large heater/ dryer is used to stretch and dry recently washed and dyed sheets of leather. These sheets are pinned onto the nets as they move through the 'toaster' like drying machines. Skins are then air dried for 2-3 days depending of the temperature and humidity inside the factory and can take up to 1 week in particularily cold or wet weather.
    RAA2016007G081000064.jpg
  • Workers at a drying station. A large heater/ dryer is used to stretch and dry recently washed and dyed sheets of leather. These sheets are pinned onto the nets as they move through the 'toaster' like drying machines. Skins are then air dried for 2-3 days depending of the temperature and humidity inside the factory and can take up to 1 week in particularily cold or wet weather.
    RAA2016007G081000070.jpg
  • A worker in the machine tool shop
    RAA2016007G081000092.jpg
  • A worker removes sheets of leather skin from dying drums. The leather is immersed in pigment solutions and then rotated for some hours to ensure maximum and consistent color adbsorption. the skins can then be drum dyed, to set a color or finish. The drum dying process involves putting the skins in giant drums along with various chemicals and dyes. A typical skin may go through 4-5 different 40 mintue cycles of dying with different chemicals for a 6 hour total process. Some special finishes can take up to 12 hours of drum dying.
    RAA2016007G081000079.jpg
  • A worker removes sheets of leather skin from dying drums. The leather is immersed in pigment solutions and then rotated for some hours to ensure maximum and consistent color adbsorption. the skins can then be drum dyed, to set a color or finish. The drum dying process involves putting the skins in giant drums along with various chemicals and dyes. A typical skin may go through 4-5 different 40 mintue cycles of dying with different chemicals for a 6 hour total process. Some special finishes can take up to 12 hours of drum dying.
    RAA2016007G081000160.jpg
  • At the color mix lab - lab technicians mix colors based on specific customer color requirements.
    RAA2016007G081000171.jpg
  • Workers at a leather coloring / spraying station. The color tones added to the prepared leather are based on the requirements different customers have.
    RAA2016007G081000208.jpg
  • Leather jackets manufacturing factory - at the cutting and form making room. The forms are prepared to customer specifications and design. This factory uses a more sophisticated computer cutting system to produce the base forms, before they are handed over to the workers on the cutting floor.
    RAA2016007G101000250.jpg
  • Leather jackets manufacturing factory - at the cutting and form making room. The forms are prepared to customer specifications and design. This factory uses a more sophisticated computer cutting system to produce the base forms, before they are handed over to the workers on the cutting floor.
    RAA2016007G101000237.jpg
  • Factory workers between shifts take a break and a short rest.
    RAA2016007G081000222.jpg
  • Workers iron on silk lining material onto cut leather pieces. This lining helps create tighter seams where the various pieces are sown together.
    RAA2016007G101000323.jpg
  • Leather jacket manufacturing and stitching work shop. Workers sew the various pieces to complete the customer's order.
    RAA2016007G101000293.jpg
  • Scenes from animal skinning and preparation facility - a manual intensive process, the men clean and shave animal skin using various chemicals and acid mixes. The 'wet blue' leather is prepared at this facility.
    RAA2016007G101000377.jpg
  • Leather jacket manufacturing and stitching work shop. Workers sew the various pieces to complete the customer's order.
    RAA2016007G101000427.jpg
  • Scenes from animal skinning and preparation facility - a manual intensive process, the men clean and shave animal skin using various chemicals and acid mixes. The 'wet blue' leather is prepared at this facility.
    RAA2016007G101000382.jpg
  • The paint shop - leather jackets are spray painted to the tones and color ranges specified by the customers.
    RAA2016007G101000408.jpg
  • Saeedullah, a tannery worker from Karachi - he wanted his identity protected for fear of retaliation from the factory owners. With little or no protection, most workers fear speaking out as these jobs - despite their low pay and poor working conditions, are precious.
    RAA2016007G111000013.jpg
  • Mohammad Ali, a tannery worker, and member of a worker's union, in Karachi.
    RAA2016007G111000029.jpg
  • Nazeer Ahmed Qadri, a tannary worker from Karachi.
    RAA2016007G111000057.jpg
  • Nazar Zameen, a tannery worker from Karachi. Nazar requested that his identity be protected because he fears retaliation from the factory owners.
    RAA2016007G111000108.jpg
  • Syed Zaidi Hussain Shah, a tannery worker from Karachi.
    RAA2016007G111000088.jpg
  • Yousuf Khan, a tannery worker, and member of a labor union, from Karachi.
    RAA2016007G111000103.jpg
  • Mohammad Nawab, a tannery worker from Karachi.
    RAA2016007G121000004.jpg
  • Scene from Karachi's industrial area Korangi - the tanneries can be seen in the background.
    RAA2016007G131000012.jpg
  • Shah Nawaz, a former tannery worker, and local leader of the tannery workers union in Karachi.
    RAA2016007G121000014.jpg
  • Scene from Karachi's industrial area Korangi - the tanneries can be seen in the background.
    RAA2016007G131000033.jpg
  • Scene from Karachi's industrial area Korangi - the tanneries can be seen in the background. A recently built effluent treatment plant sits in the foreground, though the issue of water pollution, and chemical sewage pouring straight into the Arabian sea remains.
    RAA2016007G131000019.jpg
  • Men prepare animal hair, left over from the leather preparation process, for sale to retailers. The hairs are dried  outdoors for several days and sold to manufacturers of mattresses and other such household products.
    RAA2016007G131000050.jpg
  • Tannery Workers
    RAA2016007G141000028.jpg
  • Mohammad Babul, a tannery worker from Karachi, and a member of a tanneries labor union.
    RAA2016007G141000010.jpg
  • At a garment factory in the SITE industrial area of Karachi.  A scene from the sewing and stitching work floor where the various pre-cut pieces of clothing are put together into the complete product. Most all the people working on the floor are on short-term contracts only.
    RAA2016007G151000018.jpg
  • Mohammad Rafiq - a garment factory worker from Karachi.
    RAA2016007G151000066.jpg
  • Mohammad Younus, a garment factory worker from Karachi.
    RAA2016007G151000085.jpg
  • Abdul Majeed, a garment factory worker from Karachi.
    RAA2016007G151000095.jpg
  • Mohammad Farid - a garment worker in Karachi who owns and runs a small sewing and stitching factory located within the Bengali slum community. These small scale operations produce clothing for the local markets and are usually operated with the help of 8-10 local workers. With many without jobs, these small workshops have access to cheap(er) labor as people are desperate to find any work.
    RAA2016007G151000107.jpg
  • Hussain Ahmed, a garment factory worker from Karachi.
    RAA2016007G151000132.jpg
View: 100 | All