Hélène et Thomas Chassaing fr / en

Palos (Strawberries) : Just after Work

Introduction:

At the beginning of March, after spending some time in Almeria to follow a farmer during the height of the tomato harvest, I went to the province of Huelva, still staying within Andalusia, to photograph the work going on in the strawberry fields and orange orchards.

Disoriented at first, I soon fell in with some workers I had encountered in Almeria or Baena. Some had already found work, others waited for the peak season, sleeping in the street or in the forest at the edge of the fields. The physical and mental suffering endured here, as in Almeria, is extreme. Here, the work of picking strawberries is mainly carried out by women come from Eastern European countries and Morocco, under agreements with several countries (contrato en origen).

For about three months, I documented as much as possible: the situation of immigrant workers from all over Spain, whether they have papers or not. Put into competition with each other, they are condemned by the new immigration policy (contrato en origen) to particular jobs such as spraying phytosanitary products or to serve as stop-gap like supplementary workers (on weekends, for example, or on public holidays and during peaks of production).

(Excerpt from Read the Story)


READ THE STORY   REPORTAGE   ARCHIVE