Hands of Grease

Working days are not eight hours if you’re working double shifts. In 2001 economic crisis hit Turkey’s workers. 1.5 million people lost their jobs. The remaining workers were pushed to work sixteen to eighteen-hour shifts in hard working conditions. Child labour increased in small businesses like repair shops and small factories. These photographs were taken in several industrial areas in Turkey during and after the 2001 crisis. With my weekly visits, I witnessed more than two hundred small workshops shut down in eight months. Despite all sadness, people always find a way to survive. I’ve seen a lot of bright shining eyes and big smiles accompanied by a glass of tea at the end of a long shift.

*All images were shot with Minolta x700 analogue camera, hand printed in the darkroom on 30x40cm Ilford Fiber Base paper.